| For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. |
| —2 Corinthians 11:13-15 |
The 1975 movie, The Stepford Wives, has remained in my memory: not only as a very bizarre story, but as an example of how very like the “Men’s Association” our enemy—the prince of this world, Satan—operates.
The story takes place in the affluent, idyllic town of Stepford, Connecticut. A new resident, Joanna, notices how strange all the women seem to appear. They are fawning wives, mindless, and perfect in every way. What she doesn’t realize is that one-by-one, the husbands of the “Men’s Association,” who make it their mission to completely control their wives, have actually murdered their wives and replaced them with perfectly engineered robots. These robots look identical to the wives. And, the robot wifes have absolutely no flaws whatsoever.
These formerly very successful, caring, and professional women, now transformed into robots, think only of pleasing their husbands in every way. Since they are not real, they have given up any resemblance to the actual personhood of each wife they have replaced.
Joanna watched as one of her more “normal” neighbors seemed to go through this metamorphosis. For one thing, her tennis court in the back yard was dug up and replaced with a putting green for her husband. Only when Joanna’s own family becomes victims of the “Men’s Association” does she try to escape in order to protect her own life.
We would all love to be the perfect model of a Christian, not only pleasing to God, but especially pleasing to each other. We study the right “moves” of those Christians that we admire and try very hard to imitate them. We learn to play the game of “church” and strive to never allow our own sinful natures to become too visible. Over time, we come to realize that to openly acknowledge sin, to repent, to ask for genuine forgiveness just takes too much humility. To do that, we would have to admit that we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength.
While it may seem somewhat honorable to overlook the faults in others, to look for the best in each other, and to see our churches as perfect examples of lived-out Christianity, we should never tolerate covering up sin and hiding horrific wrong-doing. Christ did not die for people who pretend to be without fault. He died for sinners and welcomes anyone who truly comes to Him in honest confession.
Like Joanna, the world watches us. Anything in us or in our churches that smacks of being phony is clearly evident to them. Why would they want to join a group of seemingly “perfect” people anyway, especially when they know the sinfulness of their own hearts?
We glorify God the most when we rely on Him for His grace to live our lives according to His desires and when we willingly acknowledge and repent of our sins. We need to embrace the intention to do away with the plastic complexion, the nylon hair, and the mindless play-act!
