Hypocrisy in the Church

How would you rank these things in terms of how important they are to being a good church

Excellence

Inclusivity

Realness

Devotion to God’s Word

Down-to-earth

Relatable

Honorable

Deep study

Well thought of

Having their stuff together

Loving each other

Define hypocrisy:

The greek word is essentially a theater actor, someone who is playing a part

hypocrite (actor) n. — a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.

Say the right things, do the wrong things

Pretending to be someone you are not

hypocrisy is like counterfeit money

Have you experienced this in the church?

In what ways do you think it could be a problem?

How big of a problem do you think it is?

What does the Bible say about hypocrites?

Matthew 23 (ESV)

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Who were the pharisees?

The conservatives,

English Standard Version Luke 16:14–15

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

English Standard Version Luke 18:9–14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

How do you heal from being hurt by hypocrites?

Remember God is not a hypocrite. We can trust him and we can trust His Word

Remember that we are saved by grace and that our burden is light

Remove yourself from the hypocrites

How do you avoid BECOMING a hypocrite? /How do you STOP BEING a hypocrite?

Jesus says to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” to the disciples. We tend to think of them as evil super villain but the reality is that we can easily become what they were.

Three basic theological mistakes the Pharisees made:

A. Their approach to Scripture

hypocrites over emphasize knowing the bible and under emphasize living out the gospel.

Knowing the bible does not save you or make you better

Believing the gospel does

Knowing something for the purpose of feeling validated, valued, or superior leads to hypocrisy

If we say that our problems are a lack of knowledge we don’t have to do the dirty work of dealing with the sin in our hearts.

B. Their understanding of salvation

hypocrisy and legalism go hand in hand

use scripture to create a list of rules we are comfortable with.

Add to and build on that list to help us feel accomplished and worthy

look down on others who do not live up to our list (looking down on someone instead of up at God)

hypocrisy is seeking glory from men (Like spoiling dinner)

C. Their disregard of regeneration

Changing or sanitizing outward behavior is not true change

problems in the church trace back to to:

not believing the gospel

not understanding the gospel

not living the gospel