Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is something Jesus warned about.  Hypocrisy is teaching, or pretending to believe something that you don’t and claiming to live up to the standard that one doesn’t have.  A hypocrite is a pretender, or actor, claiming to be what they aren’t.  There are those in church that claim to be Christians but in all reality they are not.  When people hang around with other people long enough, they can learn to mimic them and can walk like them and even talk like them, and, in many ways act like them but they are not them.   Think about actors who play the part of someone else, they practice and practice to be like the person they portray in the movies, on TV or in plays but they are just actors.  True Christians are not perfect and we do sin at times, and we also do things that we regret, so someone may say we are hypocrites, but we are not.  We may act that way at times but remember we are sinners saved by the grace of the Lord and covered by His righteousness and forgiven through His shed blood as we repent and ask His forgiveness asking Him to be our Lord and Savior.  Hypocrites, on the other hand, are different, they may be full of religion but they have no real relationship with Jesus.

Read some of the things Jesus said about hypocrites in Matthew 6:1-15, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Hypocrites are people who do things just for show purposes but may pretend to do the things they do for the Lord, but they take the credit for what they do themselves.  Many of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day lived this way.  These men did good things for appearance only.  Our attitude is very important in the things we do and the reasons why we do them.  Doing things just for show is not the attitude a Christian should have.  There are other things that Jesus said on this subject.  

If you want to know more, you might want to read Matthew 23:1-36, “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

Something to think about; just because you find a mouse in a cookie jar, doesn’t make him a cookie, no more than a person in church makes them a Christian. It is all about relationship and in this case a personal relationship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, the one and only Savior, the Lord!!

If you don’t have that relationship but would like to, you need to acknowledge the fact that you are a sinner in need of the Lord’s saving grace and ask Him to forgive you and come into your life and be your Lord and Savior.  I believe that He will, if you are sincere, but let me encourage you to take your time and let the Lord fill you with His perfect peace, love and joy and then start growing in your new found faith.  Get into a Bible believing church and start thanking and praising the Lord!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!