By Robert Clements
An Acceptance of Hypocrisy..!
On one hand we have Donald Trump, from the White House walking to a church clutching a Bible in his outstretched hand for all to see, then we see the same man accused of the most perverted sexual assaults. And yet to the Bible belt Christians in America and even in other parts of the world this man should be voted back in like a messiah! And could be too! Have we become blind to hypocrisy or has hypocrisy become an accepted norm? This is not just about Trump but other leaders across the world. Leaders who’ve realised the best way to win the hearts of the electorate is to make themselves religious icons and edifices in the eyes of the people.
But I don’t blame the ones who are making use of this sure-fire method of victory, I’m wondering about what has happened to our own discerning minds? Have we forgotten what an actual spiritual awakening should do to a leader? That it is not about holding a religious book like the Bible above your head or jumping into holy rivers that matter, but a change of heart. That compassion and love starts reigning within, that your language becomes tempered, that you look at others as brothers and sisters, and yes, that you do not ever, ever bring about division and separation.
These are the outward signs that show a depth of spiritual awakening, and if we are being fooled by anything else, then we the people are the bigger fools. And bigger and bigger fools we are becoming! Which brings me to a more pertinent question, that we cannot discern these hypocrites, because we ourselves follow the same principles? On Sunday I go to church or to the temple or mosque, and the other days of the week I do as I please, which could mean every kind of wrong under the earth. And because of this we accept leaders who do the same.
Yes indeed, it’s a strange world today where hypocrisy is an accepted norm, but do remember that it’s the same as the honest looking bank director who has embezzled your savings and left you broke, or a best friend who has seduced your husband and broken your family, and many more saintly faced people who’ve played the devil behind your back.
Because finally that’s what the hypocritical leader will do; destroy you, your home, your country, your faith, your trust! It is an accepted truth that people get the leader they deserve, so are these hypocrites who act with violence and hate, and invest in religious rituals, actually giving us what we deserve? Compassion, love and brotherhood are expressions we need to look for in leadership, as we try to get back our ability to discern between a hypocrite and a sincere and genuine leader!
Beware, this acceptance of hypocrisy!
A connected thought is about temple building. No, it’s not the Ayodhya temple I’m talking about, though there’s a faint possibility that all the temple talk going on around could have influenced my thoughts.
The temple I’m writing about is the one in Jerusalem, built to the almighty God, but a God, who was specific about who would build it for Him. One would have thought that the man who finally united all the twelve tribes of Israel under him, the man who was ‘after God’s own heart’ would be allowed to build a temple to his God, but it was not so.
King David was disturbed that he had been blessed so immensely ‘In 1 Chronicles 17:1, David’s thoughts turn to building a temple for the Lord. The king sent for the prophet Nathan and said, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.” The discrepancy bothered David. Why should the king’s house be a palace, while the house of God was just a tent? At first, Nathan encouraged David to follow through on his desire to build a temple for the Lord (1 Chronicles 17:2). Yet that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, changing their plans: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in’”
First Chronicles 22:8 sheds some light on God’s decision not to allow David to build the temple: “You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.” David’s background of shedding blood in times of war was God’s reason for choosing David’s son instead (see also 1 Chronicles 28:3). God wanted a man of peace to construct the temple, not a man of war.
As I read these verses it reminds me that more than anything else in the world, God is a God of peace, and whether we are fighting people of other faiths or not, a God above does not like it. We are all children of the same God, and it must have broken God’s heart to see women and children of other nations being killed and annihilated by the Israelis.
Who finally built the temple in Jerusalem? A man who when asked what he wanted from God, asked for wisdom. A man of peace who treated his own people and even neighbouring kings and rulers with fairness, justice and trust. I know for a fact that there is a deep truth here, that only when one’s hands are clean can one build a temple, a church or any organisation to the Living God!
Anyone else doing so is again an acceptance of hypocrisy on our part…!
(The Author writes a daily column. If you’d like to receive it by WhatsApp every morning, send a ‘YES’ to him on his WhatsApp no 9892572883)