Galatians 2:11-12
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.
The Roman God Janus is recognized by his two faces, and Merriam Webster gives the literal translation of a hypocrite as “an interpreter from underneath”. This implies that the actor was wearing a mask, also denoting two faces. The two-faced person tries to win everyone as their friend and in the process loses most of them because people seek authenticity. Watch as masked Peter strides onto the stage to play his part. He hung out with Gentiles until it became expedient to be a good Jew who despises Gentiles. The Apostle Paul saw right through it. Peter’s performance drew poor reviews from Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, even though Peter received the vision of accepting Gentiles into the church. Peter lost the script.
We do too. All the time. It does no good to admit it because we too are lousy actors like Peter. We may fool some of the people some of the time, as Lincoln said, but we never fool God or a wise friend in the faith. Peter needed a Paul in his life and had no success at acting otherwise. We are all like Peter but we can also be like Paul to someone we see as an actor or hypocrite. Whichever you are today, seek his face until we meet him face to face. Take a bow in prayer.
Dear Lord, thank you that you know our hearts and our needs before we do. Help us to be genuine and to shed our masks. In Jesus’ name. Amen.