It is easy to tell people what to do, to point out what is wrong, to become judgmental and self-righteous. It is easy to correct others; but how difficult is to correct to receive that same correction. It is the preacher that speaks about gluttony while he himself is 75 pounds overweight. It is the doctor who tells everybody to exercise, eat right and get some sleep while living sedentary lives himself. It is the therapist who try to help her clients fix their families while she doesn’t have a clue how to fix hers. The list goes on and on and, we have all being guilty of such hypocrisy.
Ministry does not required perfection; but it does require 1) a constant inventory of the condition of our spirits, our souls, and our bodies (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 2) It does require humility (Ephesians 4:2) and, 3) it does requires transparency (Romans 7:7-25). There is absolutely no room for self-righteousness and hypocrisy in the Body of Christ. In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus himself tells us,
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Matthew 7:3-5 (ESV)
This portion of Scripture is not discouraging the church from dealing with folks’ problems, but is clearly telling us that, before we even think about dealing with other folks’ issues, we must deal with our own; when we don’t, Jesus describes us as hypocrites. Hypocrite is the Greek word hupokritḗs, meaning, “…a counterfeit, a man who assumes and speaks or acts under a feigned (Artificial) character.”[1] In other words, a hypocrite is somebody who lives pretending to be what he is not; somebody who lives with a mask on. This is, perhaps, the number one accusation against the church.
When we adopt man-made religions, we will automatically embrace hypocrisy to cover our obvious human limitations. Notice how certain religions and, even Christian denominations, change the way they dress, the way they speak, the way they walk, etc. and they give themselves divine characteristics. When we, on the other hand, have a real relationship with God we can’t help but to be humble; his very presence will humble us inmediatly. The great Prophet Isaiah tells us,
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”Isaiah 6:1-5 (ESV)
Hypocrisy is one of the great indications that we have not had a true encounter with God. It does not matter how many things we have overcome; in God’s presence we will always see our true condition. In God’s presence we value the magnitude of the sacrifice of Jesus. There is no wonder the Apostle Paul said of himself “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25 (NKJV)
Beloved, hypocrisy gets on the way of examining ourselves and it will have a direct negative affect amongst the lost. In Romans 2:21-24 Paul tells us,
you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Romans 2:21-24. (ESV)
“The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” That should humble ourselves right there! This word blasphemed is the Greek word blasphēméō; the definition can be divided in two ways: 1) To hurt the reputation or smite with reports or words, speak evil of, slander, rail. 2) To speak with impious irreverence concerning God Himself.[2] Beloved, our hypocrisy hurts the reputation of God himself. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:2-6,
I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (ESV)
Notice, again, that we are not called to ignore disobedient, but we disqualify ourselves when our obedience is not complete. This is simple, if we are dealing with somebody who abuses alcohol and you do the same, you are not qualified to correct him. The same with gluttony, sexual issues, etc. The problem when we take the holiness of God lightly is that we end up either being brutally judgmental, as we completely close our eyes to our own doings or, we become completely liberal where sin is not corrected or even mentioned. This creates a culture of irreverence to God, a culture where nobody changes, where there is no difference between what the world is doing and the “believer”. We embrace theological excuses to justify our sin such as: “God loves me the way I am” or “God knows my heart”.
Confessing our sins to one another and being transparent is not an option, is a Biblical mandate. James 5:16 tells us, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (NIV) Want to know why we don’t see miracles in our churches? Because there is no confession of sin. Want to know why there is no confession of sin? Because there is no transparency. Want to know why there is no transparency? Because folks are wearing mask. Want to know why folks are wearing mask? Because of hypocrisy… pretending to be what they are not. Want to know why hypocrisy exist? Because when everything is set and done… folks love their sin and reputation more than God.
[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
[2] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
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