"The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4“They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5“But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. 8“But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 “Do not be called 1leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:2-12
I have thought a lot lately about hypocrisy. Non-Christians sometimes accuse Christians of being hypocrites. Indeed, if you don’t like hypocrites, you have a lot in common with Jesus. But there is a difference between a hypocrite and a sinner. A sinner acknowledges his sin and works to correct his shortcomings. A hypocrite acknowledges others sins and short comings and never sees anything wrong in their own life. The fact is at times Christians have rightly deserved the title hypocrite and at other times people have just used it as an excuse not to go to church or as an excuse not to explore Christianity. At a recent Sunday evening service we studied Matthew 23,where Jesus called the Pharsies hypocrites seven times and condemned them by placing woes upon them. Let me share a couple conclusions we made as why Jesus saw the Pharisees as such hyporcrites and why he was dealing so harshly with them. In doing so, let us try to avoid the same behavior so we can avoid being called a hypocrite.
1. They did not practice what they preached. Nothing will get us labeled as a hypocrite faster than doing this. As Christians we must be careful that we don’t talk one way and live life another. As a pastor friend of mine put it, “Your behavior is what you believe all the rest is talk.” I think many people see professing Christians talking a different game than what they live.
2. They enforced rules without giving meaning to them. The Pharisees were so good at setting up rules and following them. They were able to live by the law and were great at making others feel unworthy when they could not. As Christians we can’t expect non Christians to act like us. We cant expect them to follow certain do's and don’ts when they don’t understand the “why” behind them. Even in the church we are horrible at this. The premise of certain do's and don’ts is good because God has told us some things that are right and some things that are wrong and understanding that helps us to grow closer to God but if we don’t give the “why” people will not understand and just see us as setting some rules.
3. Everything they did was for show and for the praise of man and not God –They were clean on the outside but on the inside they were filthly. Their number one motivation was so that people would see them and everything that they did. As Christians I think it is so important that we are constantly looking within ourselves to see if our motives are right. Our motivation can’t be so people will see how good we are. Our motive can’t be so people will see our good works and give us praise. It must be in our hearts that we want to please God and no one else.
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