Christian Camouflage

John Clardy

 

Mark 7:1-8

1          Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.

2          And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

3          For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

4          And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.

5          Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6          He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7          Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8          For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

 

2 Tim 3:1-5

1          This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2          For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3          Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4          Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5          Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

 

Camouflage has become a big business.  Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Gander Mountain are just a few stores that have capitalized on camouflage. They sell all kinds of scents, and soaps. They carry clothing from   Real Tree and Mossy Oak in various different camo patterns for different situations. Why?  So the hunter can make himself appear to be something he is not.  To camouflage himself to look like a tree, a rock or a bush or to smell like another deer or animal.

 

An avid hunter is so serious about camouflaging himself that he changes normal habits of hygiene and dress during hunting season. His clothes are washed in special odor killing detergent.  Special unscented deodorant is used at all times during hunting season and he doesn’t wear any cologne.

 

I remember one year that my daughter Courtney wanted to go deer hunting with me.  I told her to take a bath and get ready and we would make an evening hunt.  When she got in the truck she smelled like a perfume factory.  I said, “Courtney, I thought I told you to take a bath!”  She said, “Daddy I did!”  I said, “With what?”  She said, “With the bath soap you got me for Christmas at Bath and Body Works!” I had to take pine needles and rub all over her to kill the smell of the perfume. It worked! We killed a deer.  (That is another story in itself.)

 

A friend of mine has been known to give in to the temptation. to skip church during deer season to get in an extra hunt or two. He explained recently how he's prepared to handle questions like, "Where were you on Sunday?" He said he's camouflaged his real whereabouts by giving all of his deer stands Christian names. One is “Visitation.” One is named "The Word." Another one is named "Prayer." So when he's asked where he was on Sunday, he can say, "I was on ‘Visitation’, I was in 'The Word' or "I was in 'Prayer.'"

 

While his words are meant to be humorous, they illustrate a deeper and more dangerous issue that is present in our lives. I call it Christian Camouflage, the practice of hiding behind things which on the surface appear to be spiritual.

 

Christian camouflage has become a big thing in the Church! It is amazing the various different things we will contrive and use for different situations. We camouflage ourselves to look like the perfect person, the perfect employee, the perfect citizen, the perfect saint so that people do not see what we really are.  Hurting, discouraged, depressed, sinful, cold, backslidden, etc.

 

Some Things We Use As Christian Camouflage:

 

We use traditions and ritual as camouflage.

We use culture as camouflage.

We use position as camouflage
We use super spirituality as camouflage.
We use abundant activity as camouflage
We use intellectualism as camouflage.

We use emotionalism (hype - in our worship) as camouflage.

We use legalism (what many call holiness) as camouflage.

 

Jesus said to the Pharisees - "You hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." (Mark 7:6-8)

 

The scribes and the Pharisees were religious sects (denominations) that were only interested in upholding the letter of the law as they saw it. They developed their own law, the law of the elders, to put exactness to the Law of Moses.  Through rules and regulations, the principles of the law became lost.

 

This was the hand washing law: Before one eats, one must pour 1 1/2 egg-shells of water over his hands in this prescribed manner. He must hold the hands with the finger-tips upwards and pour the water over them until it ran down his wrists; he must then cleanse the palm of each hand with the fist of the other; he must then hold the hands with the fingertips pointing downwards and pour water on them from the wrists downwards so that ran off at the fingertips.

 

This was not a matter of hygiene; it was a matter of ritual, even if the hands were spotless it must be done. To do it was to please God, to fail to do it was to sin.

Jesus rebuked those who used religion to escape the true reason for the Law, a relationship with God. He said, "You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of man."  They were using the law of men, the exactness of the externals to gain respect, position and wealth over the people instead of showing the people how the law can help them to find God in their lives.

 

You can say all the good, God-honoring things and underneath have a heart that is far from Him. You can wash your hands and pots to give the appearance of being undefiled, you camouflage your life with traditions on the outside, while on the inside there attitudes or actions that have no place in a child of God. But God is not fooled by our Christian words, Christian rationalizations or Christian activity. God doesn’t look at the outward appearance but at the heart.

 

We must not be deceived into developing lists of human standards by which we can judge one another. We cannot afford to form ourselves to standards (or make the standards to fit ourselves) and put them on to impress others by our righteousness.  We must not use our clothing, conduct, or conversation to camouflage the true condition of our hearts. 

 

False pretenses do not impress God! He is not fooled by our words or our activities! We can put on our camouflage, we can pretend and play the part of a masquerade, but we are deceived if we believe we can hide our true condition from God.

 

What did Adam and Eve try to do when they realized they had sinned?  They tried to hide themselves.  They tried to blend in with the Garden!  They tried to camouflage themselves in the foliage of fig leaves.  But God saw them!

 

The reality of resorting to camouflage is that you will eventually be persuaded by it!  satan will even camouflage himself as an angel of light if it will cause you to believe a lie and be damned. 

 

Ahab listened to a lying spirit that volunteered to camouflage itself as the spirit of truth in the mouths of false prophets.  The false prophets said, “Go up in battle!  You will win!”  But even though Ahab was persuaded by it, in his heart he knew it was a lie.  So, he disguised himself. He even tried to divert attention from himself by having Jehoshaphat dress as up as him.   But the camouflage did not fool God.  An archer that had no idea where he was aiming sent an arrow sailing by God’s direction and it smote and fatally wounded Ahab!

 

Aninias and Sapphira tried to camouflage their greed and desire for public adoration by giving the appearance of unselfish sacrifice.  But it didn’t fool God.  He saw the lie they had conceived in their hearts. They were carried out feet first!

 

Laodicea thought they were okay, that they had it all covered.  They thought they were camouflaged by their prosperity and prestige.  They had a form of godliness but denied God’s power! God said, “You are lukewarm!  I will spew you out of my mouth!  You are wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked.”

 

He quoted scripture and used religious vocabulary prolifically.  He talked about God’s plan which would become the pillars of the new government. He portrayed himself as one burdened by the weight of historic responsibility.  He showed his tattered Bible and declared that he drew the strength for his great work from it. Scores of pious people welcomed him as a man sent from God.  He was a master of outward religion but it was camouflage of his inward, evil reality!   Who was this man?   He was Adolf Hitler

 

One of the greatest dangers of being in a Christian environment is that you can know the liturgy and never know the Lord. Jesus said there will be people like that on Judgment Day who will try to use their Christian Camouflage and say “Lord we did this or that in your Name. To whom He will say, "I never knew you." They will have Christianity but they won’t have Christ and that mistake will cost them heaven.

 

Propped up by paint!

The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.

 

During conversion, her three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. As they were being dismantled and lowered to the dock they crumbled.  They had been propped up by more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years.

 

No one knows how long the inner substance of 3/4 inch steel plate was rusted away while the outward appearance, the paint, remained.

Jesus saw through the camouflage of the scribes and Pharisees. “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees. You are like whitewashed tombs, painted on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. When Jesus called them "Whitewashed tombs," He meant they had no inner substance, only an external appearance.  They were propped up by paint!

 

Why do you think God told Moses to take off his shoes?  Because when you walk onto Holy ground you must do it naked!  You must remove any camouflage that you have on! Because God wants naked, bare, weak, flesh to come in contact with the holiness of God.  He doesn’t want anything superficial or man made to come between Him and His creation!  God wanted Moses to feel Him, But God wanted to feel Moses too! God wants you to feel Him, but He wants to feel you too!

 

That is why God sends conviction messages like this one!  He wants us to realize that He paid the price with His own blood so that we could stand naked and honest before Him in His grace and not be ashamed!

 

It isn't the rhetoric of Jesus that matters - it's the reality of Jesus.  So let’s take off the Christian Camouflage and let’s be real!  Let’s be honest with God, with ourselves and with each other. 

 

Ps 32:5   I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

 

The contemporary Christian group, “Casting Crown” sings a song called "Stained Glass Masquerade".  I would like to  include the lyrics to it as the way to conclude this article.

"Stained Glass Masquerade"

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay