Misinterpretation/Misrepresentation: It's All About Truth Part 2 Series

II. Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation happens when we distort the truth and represent something other than the truth. For example, let’s say someone asked you to represent them at a meeting. There is an important vote coming up and they want you to cast their vote for them. Well, after getting to the meeting, you decide that you want to vote differently from how you had been directed. So you vote the way “you” want to vote. In this example, you did not represent the person who sent you, you actually misrepresented them. Had you conducted yourself and voted the way that they wanted you to; you would have been considered their representative. To misrepresent something is to make claims about something that is untrue or as in the case of my example, to act different from the one you are representing. This applies to material things as well as spiritual things. It’s the latter that I want to speak to this morning because as Christian, we are supposed to represent Christ.

Remember last week when I told you that we hide behind our cloaks, showing people only what we want them to see? We misrepresent ourselves so that we can be accepted by others. We hide behind masks and cloaks so that people do not see the real me or the real you. People judge us based on what we show them, our representation of our selves. Their knowledge and understanding of us (after they interact with us) is based solely on what we want them to think. We show them what we want them to see in us – whether it is true or not. I was having a conversation with my brother about this and he told me of a poem that really puts this into perspective. The poem is titled “We Wear the Mask” and was written by Paul Dunbar around the year 1896. In this poem, he deals with the masks that African Americans wore when dealing with white Americans. Here is what it says:

“We Wear the Mask”

(by Paul Dunbar)

We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,

This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while, We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries, To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile, Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!

In this poem he speaks of what African Americans had to do in order to “get along” in white America. Remember, during the time that he lived, slavery was still on the minds of many and blacks were still viewed as being beneath other races. Even today, over 110 years after he wrote this poem, the scars of slavery remain and the idea that all men were created equal still in question. All of the turmoil surrounding Sen. Obama and his former pastor testifies of this truth. There are many blacks in America that still harbor hatred of whites because of slavery and there are still whites in America that still harbor hatred of blacks for the same reason. However, because it is not feasible to make these thoughts known, these people wear masks. They smile in one another’s face misrepresenting what they truly feel on the inside. While one person may feel hatred for another, they hide that hatred behind a mask of friendliness. This is so common that we actually bring it into the Church. Let me share with you a story that happened with Peter and Paul. Turn to Galatians the second chapter.