When the average person thinks of Jesus, he may not think of Jesus as being a man of strong words or strong criticism. But Jesus did offer some intense criticism at times. The people He reserved His strongest words for were the religious hypocrites; people like the scribes and Pharisees. They looked the part, but true spirituality was lacking. Jesus exposed this with some of His most biting critiques. We want to make sure that we are not anything like the Pharisees, so this month, I am offering a hypocrisy health check. A self-evaluation to make sure you are not behaving like a Pharisee. Here are 3 evidences of spiritual hypocrisy to be alerted to.
First, your religious exercises are only performed in front of others. When people can see you, you’ve got your Bible, you’re worshiping, you are talking about the Lord. But when you are not around church people, none of those things are present. Basically, this means you have no private devotional life with God. This was one of Jesus’ strongest critiques of the Pharisees. They gave, prayed, and fasted only when people could see them doing those things (Matt 6:2, 5, 16). This qualified them as ‘hypocrites’ in Jesus’ evaluation and Jesus told them they had no reward from God for this performance (see the same verses as above). That is why He told us to beware of this (Matt 6:1). Pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne said, “What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and no more.” Your true spiritual condition is measured in your private devotions, not in your public performance.
Second, you measure your spirituality in outward conformity only. This means you see holiness as only complying with certain rules about doing good or avoiding bad. Now, assuredly there is a place for that. If God says, ‘Do not murder,’ then we shouldn’t murder; and many other areas of obedience as well. But that is not the totality of holiness. True holiness is evidenced in heart change and heart desires, not just outward conformity. For example, the Pharisees tithed appropriately. They tithed their mint, dill, and cummin (Matt 23:23), the smallest of things. They were exacting in this behavior. However, Jesus condemned them because they neglected other things like justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Those are matters of the heart. You can be careful in your obedience based on what you do and not do, but that is not the only marker of your holiness. You must take into consideration your heart motivations and desires as well.
Third, you easily notice the sin in others but not in yourself. This comes from Jesus’ famous words about noticing specks in other people’s eyes but not noticing the log sticking out of your own (Matt 7:3). When we evaluate ourselves, we always grade on a curve: I didn’t mean it, it was an accident, that’s not who I really am. However, when we evaluate others, we don’t offer the same graciousness and latitude. We are usually quick to criticize the faults in others but not in ourselves. This is a sign of spiritual hypocrisy as well. We must be harder on ourselves than anyone else! This is how we will truly grow spiritually.
Are any of these evidences present in you? If so, praise the Lord for Him revealing that to you! However, the true test is what we do with it now that we are exposed. If these evidences describe you, you can repent and change into the truly spiritual person the Lord wants you to be. If you see this and just ignore it, I’m afraid the spiritual hypocrisy will remain. May the Lord change any hypocrites, and may the church be filled with genuine spiritual people who love Him.