Bewildered

 “No [person] for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Matthew 23:1-7, 23-28, 30-34, Easy-to-Read Version

Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. He said, ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the Law of Moses says. ³ So you should obey them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. ⁴ They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules. ⁵ “The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. ⁶ These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues.

 ⁷ They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher.’ ²³ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, dill, and cumin. But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being faithful. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things. ²⁴ You guide the people, but you are blind. Think about a man picking a little fly out of his drink and then swallowing a camel. You are like that.  ²⁵ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You wash clean the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of what you got by cheating others and pleasing ourselves. 

²⁶ Pharisees, you are blind. First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup will also be clean. ²⁷ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth. ²⁸ It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill these prophets.’ ³¹ So you give proof that you are descendants of those who killed the prophets. ³² And you will finish the sin that your ancestors started. ³³ “You are snakes. You are from a family of poisonous snakes. You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and go to hell. ³⁴ So I tell you this: I send to you prophets and teachers who are wise and know the Scriptures. You will kill some of them. You will hang some of them on crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.

Hypocrisy isn’t the difference between what you do and what you wish you hadn’t done, but the difference between what you show and what you are. (It’s giving the illusion of public virtue while hiding private vices.) Hypocrisy takes on many different forms:

1.    Not doing what you are telling others to do. (See Matthew 23:3-4 above)

“Don't let someone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything.” (Anonymous)

2.    Doing what you are doing to be seen by others. (See Matthew 23:5-7 above)

“Be a reflection of what you’d like to see in others. If you want love, give love. If you want honesty, give honesty. If you want respect, give respect. You get in return, what you give.” (Anonymous)

3.    Doing lesser, easier acts of service, but not doing the hard tasks of love. (See Matthew 23:23 above)

I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. ² I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. ³ I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Easy-to-Read Version)

4.    Doing image clean up, but not doing internal clean up. (See Matthew 23:25-28 above)

“You can look for external sources of motivation and that can catalyze a change, but it won’t sustain one. It has to be from an internal desire.” (Jillian Michaels)

5.    Doing the very things that you said you would never do. (See Matthew 23:30, 34 above)

“People need to learn that their actions do affect other people. So be careful what you say and do, its not always just about you.” (Anonymous) 

Though Jesus has a zero tolerance for hypocrisy, there is hope for hypocrites. It comes through His grace and mercy. You must take off your hypocritical mask as you become completely honest with Jesus (as He already knows the truth).

 Whoever tries to hide his sins will not succeed, but the one who confesses his sins and leaves them behind will find mercy. (Proverbs 28:13, the Voice)

Often what is posted online is not our true reality. What is shown on the internet puts pressure on everyone to keep up the show of how we wish our life was. Christians tend to do the same thing in church so others can’t see how “broken” we actually are. Life change will never happen in anyone’s life until the truth is told, which can be scary and uncontrollable at times.

“Hypocrite: Someone who conveniently forgets their own faults so they can point out someone else’s. “(www.IShouldHaveSaid.net)

The number one complaint from non-believers about Christianity is hypocrisy. They don’t want to look hypocritical by not living what they “preach” to others. Our public and private life should always be the same thing.

“Sometimes you have to take people for who they say they are because eventually the person they really are will be revealed.” (CoolnSmart.com)[i]

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[i] Inspired by the sermon “Hypocrisy: What Would Jesus Undo” (installment three) Sunday October 17, 2021, Pastor Dave Jansen (CPG).  In-person services are available at all three U.S. CenterPoint locations. CenterPoint also has an online Sunday morning service (10am) that can be viewed at centerpointchurches.online.church or centerpointchurches.com/live.