Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy

“He began to say to His disciples first of all, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.’” Luke 12:1.

Hypocrisy is a form of untruth. One attempts to show something one does not possess, to be something that one is not. It is deception, whether you deceive others or yourself. According to Jesus, this leaven, if it is not removed, will leaven the entire lump; that is, one’s entire life will become pure hypocrisy, one great big lie! From Jesus’ words we realize that this was dangerous and deadly for the disciples, and that they had to keep an especially sharp eye on it. All the religious camps are filed with inveterate Pharisees. Their greatest mission is to get others to believe and speak well about them. They are saturated by hypocrisy and filled with guile. They hate the truth and chastisement, and they are far away from being a disciple. Of course Jesus does not speak to such people; He speaks to disciples. We are interested in disciples, and those who want to be disciples are of interest to us. That is why this exhortation is so pertinent, since hypocrisy is such a deceptive enemy of the true life in Christ.

According to our nature, there is a sickly desire in all of us to be something, preferably much. But since there are only few who, spiritually speaking, are really something, playing the hypocrite is a very common sin, either wittingly or unwittingly; it is much more common than we think. People don’t really know what they are doing. Yet they want to be just as good as the other person. They want to assert themselves, and so they act as if they were what they know they ought to be. This is Satan’s poison that confuses and ruins the person himself and others and is so exceedingly foolish since everything will be revealed. Luke 12:2. What is the reason for this ruinous work? There are two reasons for it.

1) The most common reason is that after a person has heard and received the truth, he is still not obedient to the Word. He acknowledges the Word, but he loves himself and does not do it; therefore it does not bear any fruit (Jas. 1:22, 2:14, 20)—but no one else is supposed to know it. And so hypocrisy is the natural consequence, and he hides his true state as a remedy for that which is lacking—namely, the fruit. The person appears to be loving, appears to be happy, and appears to be at peace and zealous, to be humble and meek, etc. This becomes extremely tiring and burdensome in the long run, and the only solution to it is that the person begins to love the truth and hate himself.

2) Another kind of hypocrisy which I think is rarer but just as satanic is this: The person acknowledges and loves the truth, says farewell to the old and rejoices in the new, but takes matters into his own hands. He hears and teaches, and instead of waiting and letting God work, he pushes himself forward. Instead of God creating something, the person presents something of himself. He is not sufficiently at rest to wait for the Lord to act and perform the miracle, but he is anxious and charges ahead. This is also hypocrisy. A soul can live like this without realizing that his life is hollow and empty. Therefore it is vital to be on guard, be honest and sincere, so he stands the test. In the last instance, the person essentially plays the hypocrite to himself, deceiving himself. This also does not produce true fruit; the person does not develop into an independent member of the body of Christ, but only an imitation. The result is something like wax roses: their appearance is just as breathtaking as the real ones, but they have no life in themselves. Only God can give life and victory, and only He can create something new. This acknowledgment can stop hypocrisy so we can be to God’s glory in Jesus Christ and give all honor to Him.

Because this kind of hypocrisy is the most hidden, it is therefore the most difficult to deal with. A life like this can be compared to Cain’s offering. God cannot view something with pleasure that is not pleasing. This is where we need to be humble and love the truth, so that when God reveals the truth, we humble ourselves and acknowledge it so it can liberate us. We are exhorted to gird our waist with truth. Eph. 6:14. Being true in all of life’s circumstances gives us rest and peace. Do not strive to make someone think better of you than you are. Love the truth. We are admonished to lay aside all hypocrisy, not keeping any of it. 1 Pet. 2:1.

I also want to remind us all of Proverbs 26:12: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” This verse points out something that is closely related to hypocrisy and which leads to hypocrisy: namely, being smug and opinionated. When we acknowledge the truth that “in me (that is, in my flesh), nothing good dwells,” we realize the deception in being anything of ourselves. What we are—and what we can be—we are only by faith; therefore all of our own honor is excluded by the law of faith. Rom. 3:27. “The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.” Prov. 14:8. God does not regard a man who is wise in his own eyes. Job 37:24.

All this tells us that when hypocrisy is allowed to ferment, it completely bars the door to a life in God and makes it impossible to do God’s work with souls. Therefore, let everyone take Jesus’ exhortation to heart, and be on guard against the leaven that is hypocrisy.