Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
We live in a time of almost unprecedented public hypocrisy. And the hypocrisy is not limited to any one party, or any one country. The virtue signaling rivals that of the Semaphore used by naval crews during WWII. The virtue flags get waved so fast it is difficult to keep up with the message being sent.
We have seen the rules imposed by leaders be broken in the most public ways with seemingly no regard for the appearance. The leader’s hypocrisy is just waved aside like the Jedi waving their hands and repeating the mantra “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” “We have bigger things to worry about.” “It was a special celebration.” Or for the most contrite among them, “Oops! I got caught.”
Jesus put His finger right on the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His day. They also wanted to be seen by people for the ‘good things’ they did. I am sure they held the big cardboard check and smiled for their stone carvings or papyrus drawings. They loved making the impression that they really cared, they they were better than the rest.
But Jesus instructs His disciples to not be like them. They are to view their position as disciples as one of service toward others.
You see, the more we as leaders view our role apart from a subservient role, the more we are out of sync with the Master. We are all under the LORD. The more we lift ourselves up, the more He gets pushed out of place in our lives. The more the spotlight is on us, the less light is cast on Jesus, the only One worthy of the light.
Now before we jump down too hard on the political leaders who have failed us miserably, we need to look at ourselves. Do our words and our actions match? Are we living our values, or just stating them? If we say we care for the downtrodden, what are we doing that reflects that care?
We might not have the level of exposure that they do, but people are still looking at us, watching to see if our actions match our words.
Jesus tells the leaders of His day that they are like fancy graves, all polished up on the outside, but on the inside they are still filled with bones and rotting flesh. Until they admit the presence of the bones and rotting flesh, they can never be cleansed.
Jesus wants to gather His people “as a hen gathers he chicks under her wings.” The gentle protection that Jesus provides more than compensates for the embarrassment of exposing our bones and flesh. The embarrassment is temporary, the rewards eternal.
The Arnold Journey 