Façade: Mark 12:38-40
Only when we are genuine can God most easily use us in His will. Yes, God is omnipotent. He can use anyone and anything He desires to use. But there is a difference between God forcing our use through His omnipotence and God coming alongside to use us through our willingness. For us to partner with Him, we need to be genuine.
Jesus talks about character and appearances. He boldly tells the crowd to beware of the scribes. In all the people who came to talk to Jesus, it was a scribe who seemed to respond best to His teaching. Yet, that scribe was the only one we know about. All the other scribes – and religious elite for that matter – stayed in their group where they could remain safe and unchallenged.
What is it the scribes do so poorly? The scribes like to walk around in long robes and look important. They like to meet in public places so other people can be aware of them. They like the best seats in synagogues so they don’t miss anything and worship is easy. They like the places of honor at feasts so everyone knows the power they wield. They devour widow’s houses – meaning they love materialism so much they are willing to take from those who struggle to have enough even though they themselves live in surplus. They have long prayers in pretense of how spiritual they are.
In short, the scribes are all about themselves. It’s worse than that. They are all about themselves under the guise of being all about God. They live under a guise while not being honest about it. It’s one thing to live contrary to God’s ways. It’s another thing to live contrary to God’s ways but bury it so deep nobody can see it.
The reason burying our sinfulness is dangerous is because it seldom gets handled. In fact, it seldom gets identified! If we don’t have people who can see us for who we are rather than the façade we present to the world, who can hold us accountable?
God wants us to be genuine in our relationship with Him. How can the world ever see a genuine relationship with God if all they ever see is the façade of greatness? How can we ever ask people to be vulnerable if we only present an untrue image? Life – relationship with God – is not about our perfection. It is about our struggle against our humanity and our pursuit of godliness.
It is God’s ability to work through our flaws that is attractive to people searching for what Jesus can do in their life. Jesus says the scribes will receive the greater condemnation. They will be condemned for their worldliness buried beneath the façade of greatness. They will be condemned because their façade of greatness prevents them from seizing the opportunity to draw other people into genuine relationship with God. Only when we are genuine can God most easily use us in His will.
