No one likes to be called a hypocrite. But we often accuse others of this. So we need to remember the old saying, “When you point your finger at others, there are three fingers pointing back at you.”The Greek word for hypocrite originally referred to an actor who wore a mask. But it came to mean someone who was being untrue, someone who said one thing, but did something else.Jesus criticized those who gave alms, but only to be seen by others, praying only to show how “righteous” they were, and those who fasted again to make a show of it (see Matt. 6:1-17). Jesus criticized those who followed external rules, but ignored the deep meaning of God’s will. So He said they washed the outside of the cup, but what was on the inside was still dirty (Matt. 23:25-27). Again He said being hypocritical was like those who could see a little speck in someone else’s eye, and all the while ignoring the big stick that was in their own eye (Matt. 7:3-4).Now let’s look at being hypocritical. First we must remember that we don’t always live up to God’s standards all the time. We make mistakes; we sometimes fail. Does that make us “hypocrites”? No it simply means that we have failed. We have not always followed God’s will.If we look at the examples noted above we can see some important distinctions. First, we see that they are doing—good and right things—but for the wrong reasons. They perform these things to be seen and be praised by others. Jesus said that when they do this they have received their reward—the praise and approval of others.The second thing we can discern from these examples is that the hypocrite considers himself or herself better that other people. So they notice the minor flaws in others while ignoring their own problems, which may be worse. The hypocrite often place themselves in the position of a self-appointed watchdog.But the third distinction is that they are devious in their actions. Jesus called them “blind guides” because they taught people to do one thing, even to follow the Law, but all the while they had no intention of do that themselves (Matt. 23:15-23).So we must remember that to try, but to fail is not being a hypocrite. Paul taught about our struggles with sin (Rom. 7:15-18). We all find ourselves in this struggle. We ...
