AFFECTATION

From My Perspective - - - 

There are many opinions and suggestions in terms of what the world needs now. Once upon a time there was a popular song that suggested: “What The World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love; That’s the only thing there’s too little of…” Depending on the trend or fixation of a moment, A contestant in a Miss America Pageant may respond that (a) the world needs peace, (b) the starving people (especially children) need to be fed, or (c) the plight of oppressed women around the world should be addressed. 

The term “affectation” means: “an effort to appear to have a quality not really or fully possessed;, or conspicuous artificiality of manner of appearance.” The synonyms are even more indicative: “artificiality, facade, imitation, insincerity, pretentiousness, sham.” If we narrow our focus to the synonym - insincerity - it broadens the possible applications much further. Insincerity is associated with: “hypocrisy, deceitfulness, pretense, and dishonesty.” It is interesting to note some of the antonyms for insincerity: “honesty, truth, frankness, and openness.” A hackneyed expression is: “One should never mix politics and religion.” What is interesting about that suggestion is that two of the greatest areas illustrating insincerity are politics and religion. Another older saying is that a person can be sincere in desire but sincerely wrong in terms of how an endeavor is undertaken or done. 

In His earthly ministry, Jesus made frequent reference to insincerity and those were prone to act in that manner. As a matter of fact, the Sermon on the Mount makes extensive commentary about insincerity of behavior and action. In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus said: “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them…as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men.” In Matthew 6:5-15, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.”  Once again, in Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus said: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.” Three critical and crucial areas of religious practice receive words of caution and condemnation: (1) the manner by which one practices righteousness; (2) the manner in which one prays, and (3) how one appears when fasting. Jesus indicated that the mere act that is done with impure motives is not just insincerity but also blatant hypocrisy. 

As Jesus continued His sermon, in Matthew 7:1-6, he focuses on judging another person. The logic of Jesus’ statement is easy to grasp. “"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother: Let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” Jesus is indicating the need for integrity, fairness, mercy and being equitable toward one another. Fault-finding should always be accompanied with a mirror. One should look at the reflection in the mirror before assessing a weakness or frailty in another person. If one ignores the reflection in his mirror, he may embark on all kinds of harm toward another. It would be a perfect goal and practice if application was consistently made of Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We would also do well to identify with David’s prayer in Psalm 51:1-4, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” Let us seek and aim to be all of what Jesus Christ intended us to be! Consider these things with me.