To Act…Or…Be Real?
I just listened to a YouTube video of Kim Clement, a prophetic speaker in our day, who spoke prophecy in 2014 which we are seeing come to pass before our eyes today. I shared it on my facebook page because it is a message of which we need to be reminded; and it seemed to correlate with my topic of this article. Kim Clement was real…he didn’t act to impress or manipulate.
It amuses me when I read comments or hear people make verbal comments such as…”he/she doesn’t act like a Christian; or, he doesn’t act like a President.” My response-“how is a Christian or a President supposed to ‘act’? “ Acting is for actors.
We’ve misconstrue d the fact that what one truly is should ‘be real’, not an act. It’s so easy, for some especially, to act. People make millions of dollars from being good actors. But then look at their real lives…drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, pornography, lying, cheating, even suicide. The list can be never ending, unless one can ‘be real’, with him/herself initially. When we can look in the mirror realistically, or take God’s eye/viewpoint of who we really are, it can quickly change our perspectives.
It’s not uncommon to see the judgmentalism of those who deem themselves ‘above’ reproach. Quickly many point the finger of condemnation when others don’t live up to their standards. But, what says God to this type of self-righteousness?
There was this parable Jesus rendered in Luke 18: 9, “ And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess’.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Our focus when ‘acting’ is on others…how do they perceive me? How can I perform to meet up to their standards? What can I do to make them accept me? If there are acting parameters in which one is supposed to fit into to be accepted, then you can be sure the reality of their life will not be acceptable. For instance, if one is self-righteous, then to accept a person who is ‘real’ goes against the grain. The old saying, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ is very true .
As in the parable above, the Pharisee speaks to himself, commending himself for all his accomplishments. He impressed himself, but he didn’t impress God, for God knew his heart. The publican, on the other hand, was real. And Jesus said that the publican was more justified than the Pharisee.
The older I get, the more I ‘see’ the differences in acting and being real. Truthfully when we ‘act’ like someone else, we dress like others, we try to measure up to them, eventually we let them and ourselves down. Sooner or later, the act will fail. It will bring physical ails, mental anguish, frustration, even depression. To try to act as if all is well when in reality it’s not takes its toll. It creates a subconscious bondage. But, when we are ‘real’, when we aren’t ashamed of who we are, how we are, where we are in life, we have freedom. See the opposites? Acting=bondage…being real=freedom.
As the Apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 10: 12, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
Paul was an actor until he had a reality check…Acts 9 reveals the encounter of a lifetime. After 3 days of blindness, his impartation broadened his mindset and showed him what his real life was about and how his previous actions would be replaced with real eternal purpose.
So, as we continue to watch current events unfold, in our nation, in the church world, don’t be so quick to cast stones. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof. He has His eye on the big picture of which we are just specks. Allowing God to broaden our mindset will keep us from being sucked into the religious Americanized opinions, following after the liberal progressive acts; stay real!
D. S. Mullis
Copyright.2020
No, lying may not be one of the 10 commandments, but it is a sin which needs to be repented of by the liar. The Bible says, ‘all liars shall have their place in the lake of fire’...therefore that implies to me there’s going to be a whole lot of souls who lived a life of unrepented sins, including lying.
I love to say’ everybody has a wagon to pull...some are fuller than others.’
I don’t attempt to keep up with others’ sins, for I find plenty of my own which has to be repented of.
And Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘let him without sin cast the first stone,’
My focus is on the good which has occurred in the last 3 years, which has benefitted millions of our fellow Americans.
I’m looking for more in the coming months.
Happy New Year! I don’t think we’ve conversed since last year!
Ron