Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing,” wrote U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. While mere humans are not inspired, the adage seems intuitively true that, “All truth is God’s truth.” Lincoln may not have been the paragon of Christian thought, but his words frequently reflected Christian morality and resonated with what is true, notwithstanding the anomaly that all politicians must embrace some level of compromise for a democracy to work.

In today’s image-oriented cultural climate, the image of a person or his reputational optics may hide what is reprehensible. Nowhere is this more poignant than when Jesus roundly denunciated the legalists who tried to cancel Him, those who used the rule keeping of religion to bolster their own image and standing in their religious community. They were the influencers of their day, used to controlling the narrative about spirituality and standing in the community.

But Christ would not be canceled, for He cuts through the flimsy shadow of spirituality and shuts them down.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. (Mt 23:27)

They ramped up their efforts by resorting to violence under the guise of legality. The shadow won’t stand up to the real thing. Jesus taught, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Implicitly, legalizers will ultimately be powerless in the things that matter in the spiritual life, for as the apostle Paul, who himself was once a legalizing Pharisee, wrote:

These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. (Col. 2:23)

Even religious leaders’ efforts to silence Christ ultimately turned to violence by executing Him on the cross (all accomplished with clever self-justifying manipulations and truth-bending), but His resurrection from the dead proved He was God in the flesh (Rom. 1:4). They threw their worst at Him, but could not snuff Him out or keep Him down!

How do normally sane, intelligent people get so caught up in the viral, spiral downward to the point where they hold on to and propagate that which is patently false? In the case of those religious leaders, they had immersed themselves in self-exalting grandiose attitudes and behavior. They got used to bending the Law of God, whose purpose was to provide the shadow of spirituality that gave them standing and reputation. Their consciences were seared and became calloused—they no longer knew what was real and what was true. Once people hold on to and propagate lies and untruths, they come to believe those things as true. Their view of life becomes distorted, even as they are entirely convinced that they are on the side of truth. How tragic. We are tempted to think there is no hope for them, though it is not ours to judge.

May this be a warning to you and me that these things not be said or thought of us. It is better to be genuine than to spend our lives wasted in the shadows being people-pleasers, glory-seekers, and complete phonies—artificial human beings, even at times artificial Christians. No superficial substitute will do other than a genuine, authentic, humble, and selfless Christian life, interested in living in Christ’s love, grace, and mercy.