What You See Is What You Get

I enjoy using sarcasm to make a point sometimes. Yet Paul's use of sarcasm late in 2 Corinthians (chapters 10-12) may be one of my least-favorite sections of Scripture (it feels terribly blasphemous to say that there's any part of Scripture that I "like" less than another). I'm talking about places where he says things like, "I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me." (2 Corinthians 11:1, NLT) He uses tongue-in-cheek irony to make a point.

However, right in the middle of it there's a non-sarcastic gem: "...I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message..." (2 Cor. 12:6, NLT)

But I think that we often look for ways to make our appearance seem more Godly than our lives actually are. We think that in order to be a good, Godly example to other people, we can't let people see any chinks in our armor.

Do you believe it's helpful to the Kingdom of God or counter-productive to put on a face that's always smiling when you're actually frowning on the inside, or when you know you've messed up somewhere?

Posted in: Christianity, Life