Hypocrisy – The Sin We Create

The sin of hypocrisy is the sin which is often most besetting for Christian communities. It is also the sin which Jesus spent most of his time calling out. This was particularly true during Holy Week. Yesterday, on Holy Monday, we saw Jesus flipping over the tables in the Temple to signal the start of a revolutionary kingdom under the rulership of Jesus. On Holy Tuesday, we see Jesus directly challenging the religious authorities of his time for their hypocrisy. We read in Matthew 23:23-28:

²³ ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

²⁵ ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

²⁷ ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. ²⁸ So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

White-washed Tombs

Jesus criticises the Pharisees and religious authorities because they present themselves as paragons of virtue, as people who faithfully uphold the letter of the Law of God, and demand the same from God’s people. They put a heavy yoke on those who seek to follow God, but, in reality, they do not live up to that burden themselves.

They make the correct offerings and tithes, those visible representations of faithful practice, but they fail to live out justice, mercy and faith. Those were what they should have been practising, but instead, they focused on the letter of the Law. The Pharisees strained out a gnat while swallowing a camel! They were people who cleaned the outside of the cup, but the inside was dirty. On the outside, they were all clean and pure, but in reality, they were dead on the inside. They only looked righteous, but were actually just being hypocrites.

This is one of the most critical and accusative passages of Jesus’s teaching and preaching. Jesus always saves his harshest language for those in religious authority who do not live up to their claims. Hypocrisy is the sin of religious institutions and those who make claims about their own religiosity but do not live out what they claim to believe. The same is true today.

Church Makes You Lie

Christian communities, whether churches or small groups, are often difficult places to be honest. Hypocrisy grows out of lies and fears of judgment. The fear that telling the truth about struggles means we will be judged leads to lies and hypocrisy. It is easy to forget that the church is not meant to be a club for saints but a hospital for sinners. But we place unrealistic expectations on each other and by forgetting that we are sinners saved by grace.

We need to recapture a proper awareness of our own need of grace to remember that we are a church of the lost and the broken. When we can remember that, then we might start to let go of the fear of judgment. When we remember our need for grace, then we stop judging others.

Self-Judgement Guards Against Hypocrisy

I am a sinner saved by grace, by what right do I have to judge another’s sins? If we all had that attitude, I think the church would be a more welcoming and loving place for everyone. It would definitely help cut down on the sins of hypocrisy amongst our congregations.

But the sin of hypocrisy is perhaps most deeply rooted in our church leaders and figures of religious authority. We expect our leaders to be able to demonstrate what we think it means to be a ‘proper’ Christian. Then we project our expectations onto our leaders and cut them down when they fail to live up to them.

Christian leaders should hold themselves to a standard of behaviour that is commensurate with their claims to represent the faith. But that standard of behaviour is set by Christ, and not by the congregation or by the denomination.

The Danger of Leadership

Hypocrisy from fear

When the church leader is scared of what people will think of them, of how they will be judged, then they are more likely to fall back on lies to protect themselves. A church leader who can be honest about their struggles, about their hopes, about the fact that they are also a sinner saved by grace and are not a living embodiment of the faith, is less likely to be a hypocrite.

When we think of our church leaders, we need to remember that someone who is representing Christianity is someone who is representing a family of people who are broken and damaged and being saved from their failings and mistakes. The church leader does not represent Christianity by trying to be perfect, but by recognising and being honest about the fact that they are a sinner saved by grace.

However, sometimes hypocrisy comes not from fear but from pride.

Hypocrisy from pride

This is the more invidious and destructive form of hypocrisy. This is when a person cares more about looking good than being good. It is what happens when a person’s faith has become their religion. When a living and breathing relationship with Jesus is replaced by legalism and rules-lawyering and wanting the accolades and the applause without actually living out what it means to be a disciple. In this case, there is nothing but an inner death hidden behind a façade of living faith.

We cannot simply ensure we look good on the outside when we are not living a life of justice and righteousness. Instead, we need to wash our entire selves, not only the outward appearance. We cannot simply follow the rules of our faith without also being merciful, compassionate and loving. These are the things that are the real markers of our faith.

Hypocrisy Ends When Are Honest Together

Let us work together to root out the sin of hypocrisy in our churches. First, by destroying it in ourselves through reminding ourselves that we are sinners saved by grace and that we are in no place to judge others. Second, by developing a culture of radical and accepting honesty in our congregations. Third, by providing the safety for our church leaders to be honest about their own nature as saved sinners. Fourth, by calling out people in authority when they do not seek to live out the true markers of the Christian faith – justice, righteousness, mercy, and love – and instead focus only on their appearance.

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