When the Stage Is a Whitewashed Tomb: Why Faking It for the Masses Isn’t God’s Plan

​Let’s be real for a minute. We’ve all seen it. The social media feed full of perfect, filtered lives. The church leader who preaches humility from a gilded stage. The influencer whose every post is a curated story about their “blessed” life.

​It’s the constant performance. The obsession with views, applause, and awards. It’s the person who uses God as a tool, a prop for their own self-promotion, all while pointing a finger at everyone else to deflect from their own mess.

​If you’ve ever felt a deep sense of betrayal watching this unfold, you’re not alone. The Bible has a name for this kind of behavior, and it’s not a compliment.

​The Problem with the Performer

​Jesus had some of His harshest words for the religious actors of his day. He called them hypocrites, a word that comes from the Greek for “actor” or “stage player.” They wore a mask, presenting a beautiful, righteous face to the world while hiding a hollow, corrupt heart underneath.

​Think of it like a whitewashed tomb. On the outside, it looks clean and pure, but on the inside, it’s full of death and decay. The performer is obsessed with external appearances, what they wear, where they go, what they eat, because their “faith” is all about the show, not about a real, internal transformation. They want you to believe their life is perfect, so they never have to face their own brokenness.

​Our Job Isn’t to Police, It’s to Shine

​This kind of behavior can make us want to become the “moral police.” We see the fakeness, the hypocrisy, and we feel compelled to point it out. But that’s not our role. The job of a disciple isn’t to go around correcting or exposing what others are doing wrong. We aren’t here to become a spiritual SWAT team for the hypocrites.

​Our purpose is much simpler and far more powerful. We are called to shine the light of Jesus and be the salt of this world.

​Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” He also said, “You are the salt of the earth.” We don’t correct the darkness by screaming at it; we correct it by shining so brightly that it’s pushed back. We don’t season the world by criticizing its blandness; we do it by adding flavor through our actions.

​The Difference Between the Actor and the Authentic

​So, what does this look like in real life?

• ​The Actor: They will post a picture of themselves serving at a soup kitchen, making sure the angle is perfect and the caption is inspiring. They do it to be seen and praised.
• ​The Authentic: They will serve at that same soup kitchen and never post a single picture. In fact, they might even ask the people they’re serving not to take one. They are there to serve, not to be seen.

​The difference is integrity, that powerful consistency between who we are in private and who we are in public. It’s the difference between a person who is constantly trying to look good to others and a person who wears their life, their mistakes, and their sins as a testimony to God.

​The beautiful truth is that the flaws and the wrong are what make us perfect, whole, and redeemed in Him. We don’t have to hide our past or pretend to be someone we’re not. In fact, the only people who don’t heal are those who are constantly trying to catch up with this public persona they have put on display.

​They understand that God’s grace is for the broken, the imperfect, and the real. My lamp is lit, and I am on the nightstand. That’s a story worth sipping and spilling the tea on.