Devotionals

Hypocrisy

by Cynthia Bowen
12/12/15
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He began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1)

The word hypocrisy comes from a Greek root that means play acting. Hypocrisy is pretending to be what you are not. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees was an outward appearance of righteousness and holiness that was disconnected from vital connection with God. Because they were so focused on right acting, these men neglected what God sees as the more important part --right BEING.

Hypocrisy has the same result in man as yeast does in our bread. Yeast, when activated by warm water, consumes the sugars in flour and releases carbon dioxide bubbles into the dough, causing it to rise. Hypocrisy when carried into everyday life feeds off the sinful lifestyle and actions we perceive in others. It inflates our egos as we compare our outward rightness with the obvious flaws in those around us. We look bigger and better than those with whom we have been rubbing shoulders.

What is surprising is who Jesus was speaking to when He issued this warning. Jesus didn’t say this to the great crowds, He said it to His disciples--men who had been walking, talking, eating, and doing life with Him day in and day out. These were men who had heard His words of life, participated in His miracles, and been sent out as ambassadors empowered to announce the coming Kingdom. It was these passionate eyewitnesses of the Gospel that Jesus warned about this danger, not the malicious actions of the Pharisees but of the hypocrisy which produced their deeds and attitudes.

That is a quick reality check to us today. If Peter who walked on water with Jesus and John who lay his head on His chest needed to be careful about the trap of hypocrisy, what about us? After all, hypocrisy is a sneaky thing. We seldom realize that we have slipped over and picked up a little of this silent but deadly leaven until we find ourselves needing to repent.

We live such busy lives. Our hectic schedules and frantic pace often push prayer and devotions to the margins of our time. We still go to church and say a quick prayer as we drive to work, but we fail to discern how far we have pulled away from the Lord’s presence. We don’t see that we have walked a little farther from the Savior’s side than was prudent. Without the dynamic, intimate connection with the Lord in full operation in our day, we tend to think that we are righteous because of the way we behave. Our holiness becomes a function of our own self will. That is a very dangerous place to settle down because it eliminates our need of a Savior. We look so much better than the sinners around us that we become impressed with ourselves, and fail to discern that God is not.

We can easily forget that Jesus is our Righteousness and that His suffering alone is what makes us acceptable to God. The only claim we have to holiness is faith in what He has done. The cross of Jesus is the only antidote for the pervasive sin of hypocrisy. When we stand gazing up at the wounds of our crucified Lord, we feel the sting of our own sinfulness. When we feel the warm drops of innocent blood shed for us slide over our lives, we become acutely aware of our own inability to make ourselves acceptable to a Holy God. There is no place at the foot of the cross to compare ourselves with another man. We are all under the penalty of sin and death except for the mercy of this Man Who bore our punishment as He was suspended between heaven and earth. We all need Him.

So let your righteousness be real, the outward expression of your inner connection to the Lord. When you are at work and hear the gossip circulating about a coworkers indiscretions, check that smug self assurance. When you are at the market and see that person staggering under a drug induced fog, I want to challenge you to stop before you put on that Pharisaical robe. Remember that you,too, were lost without Jesus. Do not allow yourself to be a towering example of unattainable morality. Instead, take a quick glimpse at Calvary and let yourself be a lighthouse shining only one message into the darkness...Jesus saves.