There are many Christians and
Pastors who are hypocrites. It may not
be evident to others, but deep down they know they are not what they ought to
be. We have been told time and again that the cassock does not make a monk.
Putting it simply to the religious, the robe does not make one righteous. It is
said that they are not all saints who use holy water. This saying is a sad
reminder of the realities in religious circles today. Pastors are often singled
out as being the most hypocritical of all people.
A pastor is called by God to preach
the Truth. When a pastor preaches, he proclaims the Word of God, and it is
directed not only to the congregation, but to himself as well. Unfortunately,
there is no pastor who practices exactly what he preaches. His religion is what
he performs when the sermon is over. He is good at setting up a moral standard
for others and two kinds of morals for himself: one which he preaches but does
not practice and the other which he practices but seldom preaches. He is an
expert at practicing virtue from a distance.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve,
hypocrisy has been an integral part of human society. A Hypocrite is a person
who pretends to be more righteous than he is. He tries to make the external
appear better than the interior. He seeks praise and approval from others and
has a desire to be well-liked. He deceives others by hiding his own true
character behind a false front of goodness. He knows what he is doing is evil
but hides the truth and deceives others into thinking that he is really very
innocent.
Hypocrisy is an annoying trait that
most of us can relate to. It is not just about not being true outside as we are
inside. It is also denying and not seeing the evil of our inside and projecting
a false righteousness outside. It causes blindness to the truth and hardness of
heart. The best examples are the Pharisees.
A hypocrite believes that wrongs
aren't wrong if they are committed by good people like him. He resists God's truth that discerns our
inward condition. A hypocrite disqualifies himself from entering the Kingdom of
God. Jesus says that everything about us, hidden or otherwise, will be revealed
one day, and therefore, judged. Therefore, we need to be the same exteriorly
and interiorly. We can be transparently unrighteous, which is of no credit to
anyone, but God wants us to be transparently righteous! Remember what you
promised must be delivered and supported with what you do. Your motives must be
convincingly pure.
A hypocrite’s entire life is lived
out by his ability to hide behind a facade of good appearance. Yet there is a
certain sad irony to his life - while he is trying to deceive others, he
actually ends up deceiving himself. Yet we can be certain of one thing: he is
not deceiving the Lord. In the next life the Lord will take his facade away.
What then is his gain? As the ancient writer Job asked, "For what is the
hope of the hypocrite, though he may gain much, if God takes away his
life?" (Job 27:8) And again, "The joy of the hypocrite is but for a
moment" (Job 20:5).
One of the main reasons people have
double standards is that they desire to have the best of both worlds. They go
to church on Sundays and as soon as they walk out the door, they go back to
living their "regular" lives.
"Do the right thing"
doesn't mean to do what best serves our lustful desires. A lack of
understanding of the seducing nature of sin has led many to live hypocritical
lives. In our heart of hearts, we know fully well that something is morally
wrong with our actions, but we do it anyway because it feels good or is
convenient.
People who live hypocritical lives
normally try to use some form of rationalization to justify their actions. A
man committing adultery may say that he is only breaking his wedding vows by
having sex with prostitutes. The ultimate rationalization is the phrase,
"I just couldn't help myself."
If we were to study 100 cases of
hypocrisy, I doubt we would find a single person who intended to become a
hypocrite. Most people start off with good intentions and along the way their
moral values somehow get off track. Because our flesh likes the things of this
world, compromise is inevitable for those people who play with temptation. If
we keep dancing on the edge of the abyss, we will eventually fall in. It takes
people who are honest and humble to know their limits.
Man's ultimate goal is God; to
attain this goal he should commit himself totally. But unfortunately some
people do not have God as their ultimate goal, instead choose wealth as their
God. Man cannot have two absolute and
contrary goals.
Because we are so affluent, many of
us don't worry about food, drink, or clothes. Instead we worry about
retirement, inflation, and investments. Because of our self-seeking,
pleasure-seeking lifestyle, we regard the Bible and especially the Sermon on
the Mount as archaic, impractical, and stupid. Our lifestyle is putting us out
of touch with God's word and God Himself, and therefore putting us out of touch
with reality. We are following the footsteps of the Esaus and Judases of all
time who tried to gain life but lost it. We refuse to admit our sins, because
we are blinded by the gods of the present generation. Our lifestyle has become
our death-style. If we are set upon the things of the world, we are enemies of
the cross. If we love what the world offers, the Father's love finds no place
in us.
While we are in this world, our
spirit is always being literally bombarded with influences from both the good
and the evil spirits which are with us. How many of us have had thoughts that
we couldn't imagine we were even capable of having? When first stimulated,
those thoughts were not our own, but we had the choice to make them so.
Everything flows into us either from heaven or hell and our life basically
consists in choosing between accepting the good things or the bad things.
A confirmed hypocrite has much to
fear, not only the daily embarrassment and the disclosure of his real character
after death, but also the fact that his eternal home will be an isolated
eternity in the dark, barren wastelands of hell.
If we earnestly shun hypocrisy in
our lives, and sincerely try to keep the deeds of our hands clean and the
thoughts of our hearts pure, we will not have cause for any fear, nor will we
tremble when the veil is lifted in the next life to reveal our real spiritual
identity.
To avoid hypocrisy we need to be
objective and honest with ourselves. If we profess to believe in something we
must live by it. Our judgments are based at least in part on what we preach, in
what we profess to believe and on what we as individuals expect from others.
In order for religion to give
meaning to life, it must concentrate its effort on helping men to recognize the
reality of God in the living creation. Theology should act as a guide to the
living of an honest life; rather than, an interpreter of a world beyond.
Clergymen should encourage an honest self-judgment, teaching the dangers of
rationalism of one's own acts so that individuals can be objective about their
own state - thus, avoiding hypocrisy. If theology were effective, religions
would not have to declare morals, for the faithful could determine their own
morals.
A clergyman should not be telling
people how to live - they should be showing them! When people present
themselves as moral leaders, they spontaneously commit themselves to living by
a higher standard. Remember, leadership is made by example and not by sermons.
Let us put our creed into our deeds and live truth instead of professing it.
Remember, he rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.
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