The other day, I was watching my favorite old sitcom, Leave It to Beaver. The guest star was an actor named Wendell Holmes. He played the part of an alcoholic named Andy. Andy looked familiar to me, so I did some research. It turns out that Holmes appeared on four other episodes of Leave It to Beaver, over a five-year span. However, in the other episodes, Holmes played very different roles: a music teacher named Mr. Willet (twice) and Mr. Blair, a completely different school teacher (also twice). Sadly, the character actor died at the age of 47, just a few weeks after his final appearance on Beaver.
With all due respect to Mr. Holmes, he was the definition of a hypocrite.
“Hypocrite” means actor – pretending to be someone you aren’t. Aside from the dozens of other shows Holmes appeared in, in just one series, Leave It to Beaver, he played three completely different people. And he did this, knowing the same audience would be watching each time.
That, my friend, is a hypocrite.
Of course, that is fine for TV – especially in the 1950s and 60s (for some reason). But too many of us live the same way. Before the same audience, we play multiple roles. One day we are the recovery person who lives a life of honesty. The next time our audience tunes in, they see the same actor, this time playing the role of a gas lighter. And in the next episode, we are completely buried in our addiction.
Paul wrote, “If a man is one person, but thinks himself someone else, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3).
Recovery Step: Be authentic.
