Hypocrisy: Living A Lie

What is hypocrisy?
The Greek is hupocrisis—to pretend to be what you are not; it is a word used for actors.
Hypocrites are those who seem to be people who love God and love others, but in reality, they are interested in something else—usually gaining a good reputation in this world, or wealth or importance. Hypocrites are “good” people on the surface, everyone says so, and so they think of themselves. But they never evaluate themselves by God or the Spirit, and they always ignore every call to change.

Below is what the Bible says about hypocrites, what they do and what will happen to them:

“Loving God” in hypocrisy
• Doing religious acts for the sake of others (Matthew 6:1-6 )
• Claiming to believe in God, but really trusting in the world (Daniel 11:32-34)
• Claiming to obey God, but ignoring his commands for your own (Mark 7:1-13)
• Emphasizing unimportant commands, and avoiding significant ones (Matthew 23:23)
• Focusing on how you look, rather than who you are (Matthew 23:25)
• Honoring the saints of old, but living opposed to their principles (Matthew 23:29-31)
• Thinking you can hide the truth of who you are from God and His people (Luke 12:1-3)

“Loving others” in hypocrisy
• Condemning others for their faults, while not seeing your own (Matthew 7:1-5)
• Demanding mercy from those who could judge you, but giving judgment to those under you (Matthew 18:23-35)
• Using God’s rules to hate, dishonor or not assist the needy or sinful (Luke 13:13-15; Matthew 24:49-51)

The next level
Teaching others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:15)
Forcing others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:4,13)

“Let love be without hypocrisy” Romans 12:9

If you see yourself in the above list of actions that hypocrites do, take it seriously! No matter how “good” of a Christian you think you are, Jesus will condemn you in the end! (Matthew 7:21-23). Hypocrisy is nothing to play with—it is worse than homosexuality, drugs and alcohol all together. If you do not see yourself for what you are, then this is what will happen to you:

The end result of hypocrites
• They will show themselves for who they really are (I Timothy 5:24; Luke 12:2)
• They will not enter God’s kingdom; They will be dishonored; They will be punished eternally (Matthew 23:33;Matthew 24:51)


What to do with hypocrites
If you know a hypocrite, make sure that you are sure. Ask them their motivation, and show them the verses that indicate their problem. Then follow these steps:

 Don’t follow their practices (Matthew 23:3)
 Correct them, if they are believers (Matthew 18:15-17)
 Warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy
 Give them a chance to repent

Friends don’t let friends be hypocrites!