The following is a draft of something I am trying to develop into a paper to be presented to the Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium at Villanova in January. I really do not intend to be preachy, so I am trying to edit it to make it more presentable to a wider audience. Your comments are welcome.
Performance reveals relationship. All acting is “acting with” another. The solo performer may seem alone on stage, but remains in the presence of others who see and hear and respond as they will. The ensemble is always present in the context of some greater assembly gathered beyond the parameters of that particular troupe of actors. Humanity is always being with others in some way – presence and absence collapse into one another.
We are called to become imitators, mimetai, of God (Ephesians 5:1). Not only that but to be coimitators, summimetai, followers together with others (cf. Philippians 3:17). Such imitatio dei is contrasted with hypocrisy - we are to “take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them” (Matthew 6:1).
Our performance, time and time again, is less than perfect, inhibited by “all manner of concupiscence” (Romans 7:8, KJV). How, then, are we to perform that which is good?
We must recognize that we have not already become perfect, but are being perfected in living as we live in Love. Perfection brings something or someone to completion, allowing that one to be finished according to some appropriate end. Humanity is perfected in love, joining together in becoming imitators of God.
Faith begins in one’s imagination. Consciously conforming one’s conscience, not to concupiscience, but toTruth renews our minds (much more than mere mental manipulation) so that we may prove that which is the good and acceptable. All human action takes place in the context of some relationship and every human act is held to the standard of loving others as one loves oneself. Love never happens in isolation; in fact, isolation is a rejection of love.
What is Love like? Love is revealed through face-to-face interaction. We see in our meeting with others a reflection of God's presence, seeing in another's face "the face of God" (cf. Jacob before his brother Esau in Genesis 33:10). A hypocrite deliberately tries to deceive people; such a performance relies on pretence rather than presence.
Like an actor, the hypocrite is pretending; what the “audience” sees is not the actor’s person but some persona being portrayed by the actor. Pious practice becomes performative pretense. Such a theatrical display before an audience is done for the applause of other people rather than the affirmation of Love.
The problem with hypocrisy is that it deforms one’s conscience, which sits in judgment over our will. The conscience is not the means by which we tell what is right and what is wrong; training teaches us what is right or wrong. Our conscience insists that we do what we think is right and avoid what we think is wrong. This very important distinction needs to be remain clear. Conscience, not a safe guide by itself, can be very mistaken. Conscience merely gives approval or disapproval whenever we fulfill or fail whatever standard we have, whether or not that standard is right or wrong. Conscience can either prod or punish – it acts both before and after the fact.
Hypocrisy performs against the dictates of one’s conscience. The hypocrite then comes to possess a seared conscience. “Speaking lies in hypocrisy, some have their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (I Tim. 4: 2). This reference to a "seared conscience" is a metaphor that comes from the cauterizing of a wound. Like the skin of a cauterized wound, one's conscience can become insensible. Much is done with the intention to please God, yet one is left with no full sense of having pleased God in the doing them. Instead, the nagging sense that one has not done enough to please God remains. People goaded by an uneasy conscience can try to put their conscience to rest by religious activity. Such frenzy is ultimately unsatisfying for it certainly does not impress God.
Whose performance is it anyhow?
Crucial to understanding Christian performance is that the Christian Actor, one abiding in Christ, becomes Christ in the world through the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. This Actor is not some single embodied soul standing alone on stage, but a full member of the Body of Christ, a corporation of caring characters who together comprise one whole Person, that is Jesus Christ.
