When Characters of “The Office” Invade the ChurchPart 3 – Angela Martin
Fans of “The Office” know that character Angela Martin is as “judgmental” as they come. Nobody can ever do anything right, according to Angela, and she certainly has no qualms about telling people exactly what they’ve done wrong. In fact, she berates her coworkers for the silliest and smallest of things, and she gets so up tight and bothered whenever anyone dares to disagree with her ever-so-negative assessments. And as if her negative and judgmental ways weren’t bad enough, what’s even worse about Angela is that she has the audacity to judge and criticize while she (more so than any of the others) commits serious wrongs, the utmost being having a sexual affair with a man – all while she is engaged to a different man. In a nutshell, the character of Angela Martin is one who judges, criticizes, and condemns, while her own hypocrisy and indiscretions know no bounds!
Of course, as with the previous characters we’ve talked about, Angela Martin types are everywhere, and the church is unfortunately not exempt – Angela Martins are there too! While you may or may not be able to recognize their hypocrisy, as some are better at hiding it than others, you can easily recognize their negative and judgmental spirit – because, chances are, you’ve had your own personal experience with an Angela or two, and you would do anything to forget about it and put it behind you – because you know all too well that each experience has caused you a degree of hurt and embarrassment (and maybe some anger too).
Then again, maybe you don’t need to look further than the mirror to recognize the nearest Angela Martin within your proximity. Maybe you’re the judgmental hypocrite that causes everyone around you such grief. Perhaps even now God is using this very devotional to tap you on the shoulder as he speaks to your spirit, “Hey, listen up! You need to read this!”
Jesus spoke towards the Angela Martin types when he said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).
If you’re like Angela Martin, you live your life with huge planks in your eyes, but you do nothing about them except to hide them, make excuses for them, deny they exist, and pretend they aren’t hurting yourself and others. Meanwhile, you’re scrutinizing everyone else around you and looking for the slightest evidence of wrongdoing so you can immediately lash out at them and demand a swift correction of their wrongs. (Sadly, Angela Martins must somehow feel better about themselves when they are able to point a negative finger at others). In a nutshell, Jesus has something to say to all Angel Martins out there: “Take a dose of your own medicine and correct your own wrongs before you go about masquerading as someone fit to point out the wrongs of others!”
In the church, we actually need people who are willing to help point out specks of sawdust in the eyes of their brothers and sisters in Christ, because we’re called to keep each other accountable and to look out for one another. But there is a big difference between being one who keeps himself in check and then (in all “gentleness” and with “spiritual wisdom”) goes about “restoring” others in the body of Christ (Galatians 6:1) and Angela Martin types, who don’t have a gentle or spiritually wise bone in their bodies, who commit heinous wrongs of their own and then attempt to feel better about themselves by hypocritically condemning, judging, and chastising others.
If you’re an Angela Martin in the church, you can begin to change this very instant! Go to God in prayer, and ask him to forgive you of both your sins (planks) and your hypocrisy! Moreover, ask God to help you trade in your super-judgmental and negative ways (which you have previously employed to cover your own shortcomings and/or to feel better about yourself) for honest introspection and genuine concern for others who are struggling with sin. Once you have taken your own struggles and sins to God, ask God to help you gently and wisely help others with their struggles in the same loving and forgiving manner that God helped you deal with your own. To do anything less is to live the life of an Angela Martin … and thus to give the church (and Christ) a bad and undeserving name.
