All Hat, No Cattle

Why We're Here: Unpacking Our Purpose - Part 4

In our Summer series called Why We’re Here: Unpacking Our Purpose, we are examining every word in our Purpose Statement, and we are doing that because it doesn’t just express our purpose generally, it reveals who we are and what we’re about as we try to live out our reason for being here as a church.

We’ve had a little fun with AI at the beginning of our messages, where I’ve asked it to rephrase our purpose statement in the voice of well-known characters. Here are a few more requests beginning with Foghorn Leghorn, the larger-than-life Southern rooster with a flair for the dramatic.

“Now look here, boy, pay attention—I’m talkin’ ‘bout somethin’ mighty important!”

“We’re here, I say we’re here to help folks find real, authentic faith—none of that flim-flam, bless-your-heart-and-move-on stuff, no sir!”

“We love God, we love our neighbors—yes sir, even the noisy ones! We tell folks ‘bout Jesus, and we grow in grace, I say, we grow together like corn in July!”

“It’s a journey, son, not a chicken race—faith takes time, love, and a whole mess o’ grace!”

“That’s the gospel truth, boy, don’t just stand there lookin’ like a bump on a log!”

I say, I say, I kinda liked that one! Here’s one of my favorite characters, Spock.

Personal Log, Stardate 47634.2

The pursuit of authentic faith—while not a matter of empirical observation—is of profound significance to many.

The path involves loving God, an act of profound devotion; loving one’s neighbor, a logical foundation for societal harmony; sharing the teachings of Jesus, a central figure in Earth’s theological history; and engaging in collective growth—commonly referred to as ‘grace.’

Though not governed by logic, such a journey is… highly commendable.

This week, I decided to take it to the next level by asking AI to create a song out of our purpose statement, including lyrics, melody, and voice. Here it is.

Our worship pastor is sweating bullets right now. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Skynet and Terminators are just around the corner.

Last time, we unpacked what we mean when we say we want to lead people on a faith journey. Now, we’ll focus on the adjective we carefully inserted to describe the quality of faith we aim for: authentic.

Even apart from the religious, authenticity is much sought after these days when reality shows are anything but real, social media presents a facade of what our lives are actually like, and everything we read, watch, and listen to seems curated. We long for genuineness. The problem is, the harder we try to be genuine, the greater the temptation to be fake.

An example of this is how refreshing it was, some years ago, when family vloggers started chronicling their lives on YouTube. They let it all hang out, to use a common idiom, and it made us feel better knowing that others struggled in life’s daily grind. But, as these vloggers gained popularity, many more people began following suit. The need for rawness and transparency—along with the ratings that came with them—was so great, it had to be manufactured. This led to abuses and breakdowns, some of which have been highlighted in recent news reports. It isn’t pretty.

The church, a place meant for spiritual authenticity, can fall prey to manufacturing it. Currently, many pastors and churches exceed healthy boundaries in promoting transparency, making it a core part of their brand and a means to elicit movement, rather than allowing it to unfold organically as the Spirit leads. A term for this is performative vulnerability. Others attempt to fabricate spontaneity in worship by making it appear as if the Spirit randomly prompted them to say, do, or sing something, when in truth it was all worked out beforehand to produce the desired result (youth events are notorious for this). And even others actually plan, promote, and implement strategies to leverage their perceived authenticity on social media (#authenticfaith, #realchurch, #lifeunfiltered).

Even the early Christ followers struggled with this. I know because calls for genuineness and sincerity are frequently mentioned in the New Testament. Paul wrote to pastor Timothy that,

5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. 1 Timothy 1:5 (NLT)

Paul mentions this again in the second letter to Timothy, in the same chapter and verse.

5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 2 Timothy 1:5 (NLT)

What does he mean by a genuine or authentic faith? We gain insight by looking at the Greek word used in both verses for genuine, which is anypokritos. When we break that word down, we discover that it’s composed of a prefix used to make something negative, much like our prefix non, as in compliant versus noncompliant. And that prefix is attached to the word hypokritēs. You might guess the modern English word derived from that: hypocrite.

The origin of hypokritēs is interesting and insightful. It literally meant "an interpreter from underneath" or "one who answers." That is weird to us, but not to those living in the First Century. In the wildly popular ancient Greek theater of the time, actors (hypokritai) wore large masks and often spoke from behind or "underneath" them, interpreting the lines of the play. From this literal sense, the word came to refer to an actor or stage player, someone who assumed a character, playing a part that was not their true self.

It evolved into a metaphorical term, referring to someone who pretended to have emotions, beliefs, or virtues they did not genuinely possess, much like an actor on a stage. So, when Paul and other NT writers talk about being unhypocritical in regards to faith, they mean not play-acting.¹

Sometimes, we can better understand what something is by looking at what it isn’t. To do that, we simply take that root word, hypokritēs—the opposite of authentic—and see where it’s found in the NT. We find it more than anywhere else in Matthew’s Gospel, first in chapters 6 and 7 (in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount) and in chapter 23, where Jesus delivers scathing words to the Jewish religious leaders.

Let’s go to the Sermon on the Mount first.

1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. 5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Matthew 6:1–6 (NLT) emphasis mine

Hypocrites give and pray for show.

16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. Matthew 6:16 (NLT) emphasis mine

Hypocrites fast for show. The admiration they get is their reward.

1 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. 3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. Matthew 7:1–5 (NLT) emphasis mine

This is almost universally misinterpreted and misapplied. Jesus is not saying people can do whatever they want, or that we should not call out sin. He’s saying that when we promote righteousness, we shouldn’t be hypocritical. Hypocrites judge others for sins they commit themselves.

When Jesus preached this part of the Sermon on the Mount, everyone knew who he had in mind, and it was scandalous. He took off the gloves in chapter 23 and called these folks out by name.

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Matthew 23:1–4 (NLT)

When I was a little boy, my mother had a saying: “Do as I say, not as I do.” God rest her sweet soul, but that’s really just another way of saying I don’t have to practice what I preach, but you do. The Pharisees did exactly that.

5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. 6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ Matthew 23:5–7 (NLT)

They feigned piety and spirituality, but in truth, it was all about keeping up an image. They wanted you to think they were holy, giving them recognition for it, but if you had been a fly on the wall of their lives, you’d see they were anything but that.

NT Wright writes in his commentary on how the Pharisees…

…concentrated on outward show. Large prayer-cases (known as ‘phylacteries’, leather bands and cases containing prayers, worn on the arm and the head) could easily be seen by others, and noted as a sign of piety. Long prayer-tassels at the four corners of the outer garment showed, again, how scrupulous the wearer wanted to be thought. Titles of honour, places of honour: all the fame that a small society can afford. Jesus throws it all to the winds. ..

Generations of preachers have used this passage to criticize church leaders who like dressing up and being seen in public. That’s fair enough. But we shouldn’t forget that the scribes and Pharisees were not simply what we would call ‘religious’ leaders. They were, just as much, what we would call social and political leaders, or at least the leaders of popular parties and pressure groups.

What are today’s equivalents? Some might be the leaders, whether elected or unelected, in our wider societies, who give themselves airs on the media, who rejoice in their ‘celebrity’ status, who make grand pronouncements about public values while running lucrative but shady businesses on the side, who use their position to gain influence for their families and friends, and who allow their private interests secretly to determine the public policy of their country. Before we indulge, as Christians, in inward-looking polemic against other members of our own family of faith, let’s be clear that the problem Jesus identified is not confined to churches, but runs through most modern societies from top to bottom.²

That was written more than a few years ago, but it sounds like remarks on current events. As we continue in this scathing passage, Jesus plainly exposed the reality that the Pharisees were not authentic, not at all.

13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. 15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! 16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne. 23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! 25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ 31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Matthew 23:13–32 (NLT) emphasis mine

The Pharisees, and all who play-act like them, are all hat, no cattle. That phrase comes from cowboy culture, and it’s a perfect metaphor for hypocrisy. It’s a simple, down-to-earth way of describing someone who has all the outward show—the boots, the belt buckle, and the big ten-gallon hat—but lacks the substance, the hard work, and the tangible results to back it up. In that sense, Jesus’ message to the Pharisees was that they were “all hat, no cattle.” They had the extra-wide prayer boxes, the long tassels, and the public shows of piety, but their hearts were empty. They looked the part, but their faith was not authentic. They were beautiful on the outside but filled with dead men’s bones and all sorts of impurity on the inside.

You’d think Jesus’ emphatic teachings on this would have inoculated the early church against hypocrisy, but, as I mentioned, the NT reveals this is not the case. Hypocrisy is hard to root out of our fallen natures, which takes us back to where we began with Paul’s words to Pastor Timothy, which mirror our heart’s desire as we seek to live out our purpose.

5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. 1 Timothy 1:5 (NLT)

When we say we want to lead people on the journey to authentic or genuine faith, we mean we want the Gospel to transform the whole of our lives, so that the outward signs of our faith express a deep, inner reality. In other words, we never want to play-act. We want our transparency, rawness, and realness to be genuine and organic, never worked out beforehand to produce a desired response. We will get it wrong sometimes, but may we be ever aware of the temptation to put on masks, to manufacture the Spirit’s moving, to curate an image.

Once again, we look to the dictionary for clarity on what it means to be authentic. It means:

• of undisputed origin; genuine

• made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original

• based on facts; accurate or reliable

• real

That’s the kind of faith we want to foster, where it’s not about wearing the hat; it’s about having the cattle.

1. Gemini’s AI was the source for information on the etymology of the Greek word hyprokrites and was loosely quoted in this paragraph and the one preceding it.

2. Wright, T. (2004). Matthew for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 16-28 (pp. 99–100). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.