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Between two worlds

Between two worlds. Looking for integrity. Hypocrites. One of the main targets of criticism for Jesus Normal meaning: “pretenders, actors, those that hide beneath a mask” The opposite of a hypocrite is not the righteous person but the honest “sinner” who seeks to love. Matthew 23.

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Between two worlds

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  1. Between two worlds Looking for integrity

  2. Hypocrites • One of the main targets of criticism for Jesus • Normal meaning: “pretenders, actors, those that hide beneath a mask” • The opposite of a hypocrite is not the righteous person but the honest “sinner” who seeks to love

  3. Matthew 23 • Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. • 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.

  4. Confession • To say the same thing, to agree, to profess • So, confessing who you really are is, again, the opposite of being a hypocrite • Most biblical passages are about “confessing sin” – being honest about our weaknesses, mistakes and bad decisions • Begins with honest self-awareness, wanting to have integrity – not accepting our doing what we don’t want to be doing.

  5. Integrity when we live in two worlds • Issues of hypocrisy show that the general concept has been normal for a long time • But what has been increasingly normal the last few decades is for each of us to live in various “worlds” with different values and “language” • (are recent political polarizations ways to flee the tension and try to falsely create more unified worlds?)

  6. What does it take to be a person of integrity “between two worlds”? • What do we do when we become aware that we are trying to sound like something that we’re not? (Options ?) • What do we when someone says something that we disagree with and they assume we agree? (Options ?) • How do we get better at loving conflict with friends, co-workers, or even “enemies”?

  7. What kind of community makes it easier? • It has to be OK to believe what you believe (doubt what you doubt) • It has to be OK to be challenged (love, loyalty and inclusion should not be related to agreement – or, perhaps, on some things where agreement is really important, the conversation should continue until the love, loyalty and inclusion lead a group to an agreement) • It can’t be about performance or faking it or fitting in (Sunday parlour church is a complete waste of time)

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