Relevant Life

One day an elderly couple decided to have their new young pastor and his family over for dinner. They cleaned their house up nicely. The husband removed the beer from the main refrigerator and moved it the cooler in the garage.( Can’t waste good beer) The wife dusted off all the bibles conveniently scattered throughout the house. ( Especially the ones the pastor will see) The grass was cut and the outside of the house was pressured washed. The wife turn the TV channel from the Jerry Springer show to the Trinity Broadcasting Network.( Got to play some Christian television) She softly had gospel music playing in the background. When the pastor and the family arrived, they sat down for dinner. The husband led the household and their guests in a wordy prayer before partaking of southern cooked meal.  During after meal conversation, the elderly couple asked the pastor bible questions and shared a few bible verses they had memorized by heart. ( Even though the bible verses quoted had nothing to do with the present conversation.)The elderly couple managed to show their new pastor how religious and holy they were. When the young pastor was leaving for the evening, he pulled the elderly couple aside and said, “ Thanks for dinner and next time just be yourselves around me. I am not your judge. Jesus is.”

Hypocrisy is everywhere and it has been since the beginning of time. Also guess what? Hypocrisy is sometimes in you, in your family, in your friends, and hypocrisy is sometimes in me. This is hard to fathom but truth is truth.

What is Hypocrisy exactly? Jesus preached against it several times. He was very clear that hypocrisy was the most subtle and dangerous of all sins combined. It is the worse kind of spiritual cancer and can affect and infect any person regardless of belief system. Simply put living in hypocrisy means presenting ourselves to be something that we are not. It means having religion but denying the relationship with Christ. It means declaring oneself as being without certain failures and looking down on others. The Pharisees were the top hypocrites of the day much like many church goers, politicians, and family members are today.

Mat 23:13-16 ISV  “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.  (14)  “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation!  (15)  “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.  (16)  “How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused, but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.’

Mat 23:27-36 ISV  “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity.  (28)  In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  (29)  “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.  (30)  Then you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  (31)  Therefore, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  (32)  Then finish what your ancestors started!  (33)  You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?  (34)  “That is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.  (35)  As a result, you will be held accountable for all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.  (36)  I tell you with certainty, all these things will happen to those living today.”

Jesus made it clear what Hypocrisy was all about.

1. It pretends to be spiritual and at the same time tries to stop people from being spiritual.

2. It desires to control and manipulate the true belief system.

3. It takes advantage of others in order to benefit self.

4. It is ceremonial instead of spirit led.

5. It follows the lie but calls the lie truth and the truth a lie.

6. It is haughty and makes fun of the humble.

7. It does not listen to godly reasoning or truth.

Living in Hypocrisy can lead the wielder to a place in hell and separation from the presence of God. If we are all tainted by hypocrisy at some point in our lives, then we must seek the Lord on how to overcome this spiritual cancer. Since hypocrisy is subtle and can infiltrate the human heart and any time; believers should always be on guard.

How can we stop the sin of hypocrisy from living in us?

1. Live for Jesus and not for self. This means taking up your cross daily regardless of the daily circumstances.

2. Pray without ceasing. To stop being a hypocrite means being in constant contact with the  one who can never fall to the evils of hypocrisy.

3. Stay humble and never forget where you came from. ( Your past, present, and future sins are no greater or less than anyone else’s past , present, and future sins. We all need the blood of Jesus to wash us clean and to make us whole. )

4. Do more giving than getting. Hypocrites are formed because they make the world all about themselves. If you give more of yourself than trying to get more for yourself, then Hypocrisy will have a hard time living in you.

5.Be like Jesus and stop trying to be like everyone else.