Unholy Alliance
Escaping the Culture of Insincerity & Charm
Many are overly impressed with the superficiality of ‘polish’. Christians included! But the time for favouring the charms of talented performers is coming to a close. A profound desire for actual substance is replacing our misplaced regard for thin shiny veneers. A generation of truth seekers not given to superficial appearances is emerging who will walk in extreme light. Their arrival will undermine and destroy this unholy alliance. Our attraction to ‘polish’ and the culture of superficiality it created, is already fading and will collapse.
What is it?
If you're unsure what we mean by ‘polish’, think of its most common use. Things with polish are smooth and shiny – attributes we unfortunately find mesmerizing. Las Vegas shows are saturated with dazzle and present one of the most vivid illustrations of our fascination for shiny. Unfortunately, our fascination allows our gaze to be easily hijacked by glamour and glitter.
It may appear innocent to some and is when used the right way. However, behind the shine can be a strange alluring power. When invoked it is distinguished by an ability to obtain privilege and power it does not deserve.
The ambitious are drawn to power like a moth to a flame. When we are given to the desire for influence and power, we are prone to, and even happy to, emphasize polish over substance. Again, it is not that polish, has no rightful place. When it is a matter of excellence it fits. However, its proper place is as a final finishing touch for something substantially valuable, not the means to hide what is defective and worthless. This distinction is critical.
We can think of it as a question of justice. When defects are concealed with paint, deceit and fraud are afoot. Thieves use veneers to disguise what is worthless, hoping to alter our assessment of its value. Unjust gain is the result. Leviticus expresses justice as a matter of ‘honest scales and measures’.
“You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
–Leviticus 19:35-36
Polish is a dishonest scale! Not limited to products we peddle, the same is true when selling ourselves.
Many have become highly skilled at producing facades. We owe much of our appeal to it. Rather than lean on our character and actual contributions to our world, we meticulously fashion a persona to enhance our image. We may even engage knowing this is the way of the world and the “only” way to prevail.
But competing this way in a world where image is everything, comes with a cost. For starters, a lot of energy goes into fabricating and maintaining the performance. Justified as only ‘mild’ deception, the objective is always to attract or obtain undue favour. It is much more than it appears to be. Those who do this well come off as charming, even mesmerizing at times. There is a reason for its magical essence.
Understand, we are talking about more than putting your best foot forward. It is more like distracting people from seeing you have little to offer above being smooth or debonair. Again, those who do this skillfully wear personas like most of us wear clothes.
If you have ever wondered why marriages fail so frequently in Tinseltown it's because authenticity is so rare. No one knows who they are marrying until the veneer is peeled back. Snow White becomes Cruella Deville and Mr. Hyde comes out of Dr. Jeckel, at a moment's glance. Nothing is ever what it appears to be in a world of disposable facades. Only in the face of their cost do we discover how negligible their value is.
The Real Cost of Polish
When polish is a priority it comes with attachments. Other more unsavoury partners are also there for the ride. The chief of which is what is labelled in scripture as selfish ambition. It is a notable and dangerous commodity. Please don’t confuse this with some version of faithful diligence. They are worlds apart, though indistinguishable to many.
The apostle James warned that where envy and selfish ambition exist, ‘there is confusion and every evil thing’ (James 3:16). That can’t be good by any measure.
Ambition opens the door to inconceivable evil and is what makes politics so corrupt. Modern politics and Hollywood share some pivotal common ground that way. They are ideal examples of the peril we risk when opening the door of this underrated evil. Escalating corruption is the harvest we can reap if we are not careful.
The principle at work is simple: ‘Where there are high levels of pretense, deep darkness is unleashed’. Hollywood and the political circus fit the mold perfectly as they both spawn profound levels of pretense. Each of them is bathed in superficiality masking desperate desire and true intentions. In a world where likeability is golden and the drive to please is all-consuming, evil will rear its ugly head. It is a perfect platform for deep darkness.
Which is why Jesus warned us of the danger. He said:
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you…”
–Luke 6:26
He was warning us of the unseen danger behind the need to win everyone’s good opinion. He had a vantage point few of us could appreciate.
Thus He was focused on one opinion alone… God’s. He understood what it would take to escape the snare of corruption. Orienting around what God values creates more than a pious disposition. It literally dissolves the idolization of likability and closes the door to incorrigible wickedness. More than that, God promises to satisfy the cravings in our soul responsible for our dependence on the swooning and cherishing love of the masses.
Ultimately these warnings are for our protection. While Satan continues to accuse God of being a ‘killjoy’, His concern is for our safety. Lurking in the shadows, behind what appears to be harmless pursuits, are unimaginable threats. Those who indulge ambition and practice insincerity underestimate what they do not comprehend and are walking toward a precipice of dark arts!
A Founding Principle of Creation
In its mildest form, we might call this people-pleasing. At first glance, it can appear to be a delicate form of agreeableness. Some amounts of this are perfectly acceptable and necessary for a healthy community. It depends on what grows behind it. What is at its outset harmless and to be fair can easily evolve into something more sinister. Let us not forget the peril of the forbidden tree in the garden. Its dangers were not obvious either. Likewise, those who justify the indulgence demonstrate a clear lack of understanding. In particular, they might be overlooking one of creation’s founding principles.
It tells us that every seed produces after its kind. It is the way God has given us to identify the real essence of things. It is the spiritual equivalent of DNA.
“And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
–Genesis 1:12
The principle is simple! A seed is powerless to produce anything beyond its essence or as recorded in Genesis, ‘according to its kind’. Meaning honesty cannot come out of dishonesty.
Applied here it means insincerity can only yield increasingly larger amounts of itself. Thus when we use dishonesty to flatter or endear ourselves to others the harvest will be a worse sort of deception. Agreeableness might just be pleasant until we realize how it can powerfully influence our level of favour. What might seem harmless and innocent can lead to unspeakable evil.
If the roots are embedded in untruths, everything which follows will be of the same species, but worse. Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. This is a universal law!
Those who cannot see this principle are always surprised when they find themselves surrounded by a harvest of evil. They may have presumed every good intention, but what they planted was evil’s younger cousin, so to speak.
The phenomenon surrounding politicians and actors says as much. They seem made for one another. This might have something to do with their shared talent for insincerity and mesmerizing capacity for duplicity. The results are the cesspools of the political swamps and Hollywood itself.
In these circles, deception is an art form. Watching them ‘work’ their charms is a veritable wonder. Breathlessly gliding through a crowded room, leaving everyone in their wake feeling warm and wonderful about themselves. Intuitively knowing the right things to do and say, these sultans of ‘smooth’ produce every evidence of sincerity. How they convincingly muster interest and empathy they do not embody is a wonder.
Their aim, though they might believe themselves selfless, cannot be anything but self-serving. They are practiced in the art of every evil thing.
The Authentic Version
Of course, there is an authentic version of this which we can only quickly mention in passing. But it has none of the pleasing appeal of polish. Instead, it is defined as actual love. Love which can only have one Father. Unlike this flattering self-satisfying version, God’s care has enough clarity and courage to speak the truth you need to hear more than the flattery you want to hear. For its crime love is often despised and rejected.
Unfortunately, it is in this way that many churches have gone awry. Mistaking the qualities of charm for caring they find themselves irresistibly attracted to pretenders. In their minds, these types of people are thought to be great examples of spiritual leadership. Having a smooth and inoffensive exterior they present the very image of goodness. Oh how quick we are to applaud and reward their performances.
Truly, it is hard to find fault with the attributes of polish when presented. Excellent performance has its appeal. Furthermore, as a final touch or outer layer to a fine human being, polish is significantly valuable when what is inside matches what is on the outside.
Otherwise, buyer beware! Like that classic car, you are tempted to buy. Though it has every appearance of perfection, lurking just beneath that brilliant paint job is weight in filler equal to half the car. Likewise, when a smooth and brilliant veneer masks devilish ambition and corruption, values plummet quickly.
So let’s get to the real point. This is not about cars, politicians or Hollywood actors. We are talking about the wares of the kingdom of darkness responsible for so much destruction throughout church history. Dark arts appeal to our vanities and which make us complicit with darkness. Duped or otherwise the cost is the same. The time has come for a church to arise with a love of truth so pure and profound it can spot a lie miles away.
The Real Danger in Polish
Far from being the paragon of perfection its charms suggest, what polish conceals is far worse than duplicity. What we have is a personified lie anchored to the father of liars! It plays well as an outcast’s sincere quest for acceptance. It might be that and still have a diabolical root.
Charming people as they are called, are just that… charming. But ‘charming’ as an attribute expresses more than a pleasant demeanour. It is a quality of enticement native to sorcery. Its synonyms reveal an even far more sinister constitution. Among them are enchanting, entrancing, bewitching, beguiling, spellbinding, hypnotizing, mesmerizing and seductive. These are the close cousins of the “harmless” pleasantness we know as charming.
These are clues as to the actual essence sitting at the core of insincere pleasantness.
No wonder we are bedazzled by the superficial spectacles of Hollywood and lying politicians. They are all pretenders who seduce us with the mystical lustre they emit. Unfortunately, that attraction means we favour those unworthy of our confidence. As a consequence, we willingly open the front door of the church to deceptive men and women in possession of such talents. All the while poking at the obvious faults of those whose integrity compels them to be moderately genuine.
Somehow we have minimized the error of some and magnified the defects of others. Hopefully, by now we are beginning to see what lurks just beyond the curtain of our sight. Something is at work which causes us to gloss over the defects of the devious while holding the humble to impossible standards. It is intolerable!
There is magic at work – dark magic. But where does it begin? It starts with a willingness to be insincere and pretentious for the benefit of acceptance. All it takes are the tiny inducements of insecurity for us to travel down this path. This coupled with the need to stand out, be important or obtain the applause of people is the seedbed of the kingdom of darkness.
How we tackle it determines which kingdom we are leaning into. When we practice insincerity we are cultivating one of the foremost skills of the kingdom of darkness—deception. Whatever the motive there can be no virtue in its fruit.
A Universal Issue
The problem is universal. Both Jude and Peter warned us explicitly of the imposters who would follow. Their descriptions are as precise as they are accurate.
“These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
—Jude 1:12-13
These are ‘serving only themselves’ while doing everything a good Christian ought to do. Tell us what you really think Jude!
Peter views the problem similarly, addressing it with equal candour. He attributes similar foul play to these characters adding a little more detail on their flattering ways.
“They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.”
2 Peter 2:13-14
Notice the reference to ‘hearts trained in covetous practices.’ This is a clear statement about progression. When we give into the desires of ambition we are set on a course. That course is an education is deception which only leads to greater darkness.
It leads to a skill with words defined as empty. How fitting!
“For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”
—2 Peter 2:18-19
The alluring charm of deceivers is in their capacity to utter ‘great swelling words of emptiness’. Like Absalom, they posture themselves at the gates of power hoping to side with your ‘just’ cause to allure. Their support is as false as their empathy. Still the naive are easily beguiled, unable to even imagine insincerity of this magnitude.
Yet, these warnings are given often and repeatedly for good reason. It is time for a generation to shake off simplicity and understand the depths of evil with which we wrestle. The tide is turning. A mature body of believers is rising who will not be victimized by the groundless efforts of impostors. Neither will they be duped into favouring the pretentious posers who have no aim to serve anyone or anything but themselves. The veils of fatal attraction are coming down. The generation of Jacob approaches that will overcome and escape the culture of superficiality!