Don't Be a Hypocrite

by Marc Backes

Thanksgiving is always a good time to be around family. Most everyone will return home sometime during the four-day weekend. And one of the things I think about is how being around family always allows me to unwind, unplug, and just be me. It’s a good feeling. It’s a freeing feeling. But then I wonder why I’m not like that all the time. Do I act the same way when I’m at work? What about when I’m at church? Why is it that I’m someone different when it’s just me and the family?

As we look at the Gospel of Luke, we’ll find in chapters 11 and 12 that Jesus is dealing with this problem head on. He first addresses it in a very stern and confrontational way with the Pharisees and lawyers in Chapter 11, and then deals with it amongst his disciples in the early parts of Chapter 12. Jesus says:

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.

Jesus here issues a strong warning to his disciples to guard themselves from even the slightest hint of hypocrisy. The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word (hupokrisis /hoop·ok·ree·sis/) which means to “play act” or “play a part.” He uses the leaven analogy as a way of reminding them that the tiniest bit of hypocrisy will make them complete hypocrites through and through. You can’t compartmentalize hypocrisy. It’s either not there at all. Or it permeates your whole life.

Jesus then reminds them:

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

There are really two reasons why hypocrisy is pointless. The first Jesus points out here is that you’re not fooling anyone. Sure you may fool people here on Earth, but your life, your heart, your mind, your motives, everything about you is on full display for God and always will be. You’re not fooling God. He sees it all. You will be exposed. And we see this all around us in the world today. People are being exposed every day for who they really are and Jesus said as much. The second reason Jesus gives for the pointlessness of hypocrisy is:

I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

What Jesus is saying here is that it’s not man you should try to impress anyway. God is the one who matters. Not man. And oh by the way, you can’t impress God. There’s no amount of acting that will fool him. It goes back to the first reason. God knows exactly who you are, so there’s no point in acting. But there’s also no point in trying to impress man, because they are not the ultimate reality of the universe, God is. His opinion matters.

Have you ever thought of some of the ways we care more about what people think than what God thinks?

• We pour ourselves into our work to the neglect of our focus on Jesus and our families because we derive our value from our success at work rather than the progress in our hearts.
• We avoid having / adopting more children because others would think of us as unwise to have a “house full of kids” late into our forties and fifties.
• We go into a certain line of work that even though it makes us miserable and grumpy, it’s impressive to the outside world.
• We avoid deep relationships with people because we’re afraid if they get to know who we really are, they may not like us anymore.

Jesus then gives us a comforting assurance of why we can drop the act before God and simply be who we are:

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

We are valuable to God. We were created in his image. We are precious in his sight. He knows our faults. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our ugliness. And yet despite all of that, he still sent his Son Jesus to the cross to take the punishment that you and I deserve for our hypocrisy. Jesus died the death we should have died and he lived the hypocrisy free live we should have lived. We don’t have to DO anything. Jesus did it all already. Now because of that, we can live in freedom, love, and peace. We can live as who we truly are and as we were created to be. We don’t have to act anymore. We can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. We can be transformed by what Jesus has already done for us. We can stop the charade. All that is required is:

And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

All that is required is that we acknowledge (confess) Jesus. And all that means is that we look to Him instead of ourselves. That we look to what he has done and not what we are doing. If we will repent (turn away) from our sin, and bank on Jesus as our only hope, then and only then, will we be at peace with God.

It’s not our pretending that gives us peace, it’s the reality of Jesus that won our righteousness before God.

So will you be who you really are today? Will you come to Jesus and admit you don’t have it all together? Will you say to Him “Jesus, I don’t have it together, but you did, and that’s my only hope”?

Or more simply, will you quit being a hypocrite?