Our first quarter of this strange year had us studying the book of Daniel which contains the 2300 day prophecy and the succession of world powers leading to the return of Jesus.
Hypocrisy In The Days of Jesus
A study of the world powers includes the rise and fall of the Greek empire—fascinating history. Athenians gave to the world the theatre, a form of entertainment that plagues the entire world today. Those who took to the stage were called hupokrits, which is a two part word: hupo meaning under and kino meaning to judge—to judge under. Thus the hupokriot disguised his real character through impersonation and deception. A play may have had many characters but the hupokrits were few. In order to play the part of several characters the hupokriot would often wear masks and change his voice to hide his identity.
Greek culture spread to the majority of the known world through the conquests of Alexander the Great and his successors. Of special note is Hellenism of Jews even amongst those in Jerusalem. When Rome took over, Hellenism was already an accepted, practiced and even treasured culture amongst many Jews. Roman culture adopted the theatre and added their own sinister aspects to the stage—vulgarity and violence. Hellinized Jews could be found in attendance at theatrical performances which now offered death as entertainment.
Jesus and his disciples were well familiar with the Greek and Roman Theatre and the influence it had on the people of God. In the Gospels, Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem hypocrites for not honoring the Commandments of God for their own traditions. They were actors hiding under a mask of Corban (Mark 7:11). Greek theatre exists today in our own churches as we hide behind patterned cloth masks and call Corban, “I’m doing this for God so it must be ok”.
Hypocrisy In Our Churches
Worldly influences seem to be taking over our churches and hypocrisy abounds. My Conference has placed upon our churches strict mandates for attending Divine Services on Sabbath. A list of these mandates graces our entrance door it seems to me to oppose the title “95 Thesis”. Our entire Conference is playing the part of ancient theatre called the mimos—the imitator. Just as Jesus called out the hypocrites of His time, He also called his followers to imitate Him. It is good to imitate our Creator but who are we imitating with all these government mandates? Jesus calls for unity, coming together, social interactions, laying on of hands, singing, socializing, fellowship, and even pot lucks (eating together). The fruits of the Spirit are well hidden behind a cloth mask and unnatural distancing as we train ourselves to act the part of “safety”.
I asked my pastor about these mandates, are they local or Conference enforced? I was told this comes down from the Conference and to please not attend Divine Services without a mask as it will put the Pastor and our elders in an awkward position (I wonder what the awkward position would be).
I cannot don a mask, sit 6’ away from others, worship God without any singing, sanitize the church on Sabbath twice and have my name recorded for contact tracing for a “limited” service with “limited” attendants. I cannot act the part so I am not allowed to attend.
Questions
This has me wondering who we mimic and for what reasons, and are we just as hypocritical as the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem. My questions to my church and my conference are these:
If my church is willing to follow a conference mandate of wearing a mask to save lives, is my church willing to give up eating unhealthful foods and teach others the same to save lives? (Not to mention the lives saved by following the health “mandates” set forth by our creator could far outnumber those saved by the wearing of a mask).
If the conference finds it necessary to mandate government behaviors for health, will the conference mandate Biblical Health Principles for leadership positions?
If my Conference expects mandates to be strictly upheld, why is my Conference not willing to comply with the represented vote of the world church on the ordination of women?
If my church finds it so easy to suspend and drastically modify Sabbath Services and even deny entry to some in the name of “safety” in order to follow satisfy government (so we do not stand out or offend), will my church find it easy to do the same under national Sunday laws in the threat of not being able to buy or sell and even death?
Today there are no battles, no campaigns, no cavalry, no war elephants, no silver shields, no phalanx troops, no bloodshed, and sadly, no resistance. But there will be plenty of loss of life if we do not learn how to follow God and His Word and to be separate from the world.
One final question haunts me: how does one “keep the Sabbath holy” in a sea of masks and mandates?
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