Practice What You Preach (Part 2)

No accusation is more painful than that of “being a hypocrite.” Some feel justified in their view that all Christians are hypocrites. The term “hypocrite" comes to us via the Latin "hypocrisies" meaning “play-acting, or pretense.” Further back, the word occurs in both classical and New Testament Greek and has the very same idea, which is to play a part or pretend.

When Jesus taught on the significance of prayer, fasting, and alms-giving for kingdom people, He discouraged us from following the examples of those who are hypocrites in Matthew 6. By making long public prayers, employing extreme measures to ensure that others noticed their fasts, and parading their gifts to the Temple and in front of the poor, they revealed only an outward attachment to the Lord. While the Pharisees performed well their dramatic role as public examples of religious virtue, they failed miserably in the inner world of the heart where true virtue resides as Matthew 23 and Mark 7 states.

-Jesus never called His disciples hypocrites. That name was given only to misguided religious zealots. Rather, He called His own “followers,” “babes,” “sheep,” and His “church.”

-The Book of Acts records a blatant example of hypocrisy recorded in the church. In Acts 5:1-10, we're told the story of Ananias and Sapphira being exposed for pretending to be more generous than they were. The consequence was their death.

-In Galatians 2:13 Peter, who was far from perfect, is charged with leading a group of hypocrites in their treatment of Gentile believers.

-Maybe that why Peter writes about the sin of hypocrisy in 1 Peter 2:1, which he calls “insincerity.”

Let me share at least two conclusions:
1. Hypocrites do exist among professing Christians.

They were present in the beginning, and, according to Jesus’ parable of the tares and wheat in Matthew 13, they will certainly exist until the end of the age. In addition,

2. If even an apostle may be guilty of hypocrisy, there is no reason to believe “ordinary” Christians will be free from it.

We must always be on our guard that we do not fall into the very same temptations

1 Corinthians 10:12 "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Please remember, not everyone who claims to be a Christian is truly a Christian. Perhaps all or most of the famous hypocrites among Christians were in fact pretenders and deceivers. To this day, prominent Christian leaders have fallen into terrible sins. Financial and sexual scandals sometimes seem to plague the Christian community. However, instead of taking the actions of a few and using them to denigrate the whole community of Christians, we need to ask whether all those who claim to be Christians really are.

Those who truly belong to Christ will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22, 23. Jesus’ parable of the seed and the soils in Matthew 13 makes it clear that not all professions of faith in Him are genuine. Sadly, many who profess to belong to Him will be stunned one day to hear Him say to them:

Matthew 7:23 “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” 

While it should not surprise us that people who pretend to be more holy than they are claim, we cannot conclude that the church is made up almost entirely of hypocrites. All Christians do fail to perfectly live up to the standard the Bible teaches. However, there are many Christians who are genuinely striving to live the Christian life and are relying more and more on the Holy Spirit to convict, change, and empower them daily. There have been multitudes of Christians who have lived their lives free from scandal and failure. No Christian is perfect, but making a mistake and failing to reach perfection in this life is not the same thing as being a hypocrite.