Dangerous Hypocrisy
Jesus was surrounded by thousands of people all excited to see what he would do next. Many would have proclaimed they believed the words he said though they would fall away when his message became personal. Within the throng of people were those who professed loudly yet held onto disbelief secretly. Then, as now, many stood as leaders and examples of faith and righteousness but possessed hearts riddled with sin and evil desires: hypocrisy. As Jesus gazed out upon the crowd pressing against him, he turned to his inner circle of disciples and warned them of the “leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.”
None of the accolades of people mean anything when they come from poisoned hearts. Our good works dissolve into useless boasting if our life does not back up what we profess. Even at our best, our righteousness falls exceedingly short. Isaiah 64:6 says, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” This does not mean we should abandon all good things or any acts of devotion and service to God. We were created to do such things, but the difference between useless work and good works makes all the difference. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
If all our best efforts amount to filthy rags, why then did God create us to do them, and how do we avoid the failings of hypocrisy? One truth which helps is to remember that there is no such thing as a successful hypocrite before the Lord. God cannot be fooled. Our words are not the first thing He notices. He examines our heart; therefore, the truth is always what He sees. Since we all struggle with sin, should we then lower our bar? Many have. This is why we see ‘churches’ who proudly proclaim themselves all-inclusive. Don’t be fooled by this statement. Every member of God’s church should be welcoming of every sinner – no matter how base we see their sin. The difference between a righteous church and a fallen one is not who we welcome in the door, but what we do when they get there. To be righteous is to stand correctly before our God. We cannot do that on our own. Remember Isaiah’s words. Our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. Therefore, Christ creates his righteousness in us by washing away our sin. We prevent true salvation and redemption when we block Jesus’ work by claiming sin to be of no consequence and embracing what God says destroys and kills us (Romans 6:16).
Hypocrisy occurs both when we deny the destructive power of sin and when we claim to never struggle with it. To escape it, we need not lower our standards, only raise our honesty when we fail to meet them. Honesty changes everything. We are not perfect. Remember, that is why God provided salvation the way He did. He first gave us the law which was impossible to keep. Then He provided the solution. Still, we arrogantly see ourselves as somehow above the struggles of all who have gone before us. We measure our sin as less deadly than the person standing next to us, but sin is sin. Truth is truth. We cannot water down the truth so as to not offend; nor can we deny that the truth is not impossible to achieve on our own. The only way we stand right with God is because of the work of the cross. Therefore, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31)
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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