Why Do I hate HYPOCRISY?

1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying:... but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.' (teacher, teacher) 8 But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ,and you are all brethren. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. 13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.It is important to read each of these woe's and each of the rebukes. They are the woe's of today's churches and leaders as well.My spirit is on high alert when it comes to hypocrisy- which is rooted in pride. Pride is the root of all sin. Even when I was a child, I was very aware of hypocrisy (which most children are). Staying childlike in spirit helps you keep that discernment. Not being bogged down by men's teachings and opinions- but having an honest open heart to the Lord keeps us having a childlike spirit."Hypocrisy is anything whatever that may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognize it, though it may be disguised." -Leo Tolstoy I had had some disturbing dreams the past month and was still trying to fugure them out. I had a feeling that they were about religious shepherds/leaders/teachers. The Lord woke me up with this phrase two nights ago "The meaning of the dreams is:'they clean the outside of the cup'". I heard this in my sleep all night long.You can imagine the light that went on when I got up the next morning. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.My dream also had this part of this verse in it about the dead man's bones: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.More than anything else that Jesus rebuked it was hypocrisy, maybe next to unbelief. We can point out many sins that indeed are bad- yet hypocrisy was one of the major subjects that Jesus chose to talk about over and over. It must be very important to "see" and fully understand this. "Understand that there are two kinds of hypocrisy. There is the bold, blatant, cynical, two-faced, live-one-way-around-certain-people kind; and then there is the very serious-minded, unintended, sincere kind exhibited by people who perhaps don’t understand that their own life-style has a double-mindedness. Paul is dealing with this kind of individual. This is the person who abhors abortion because it murders the helpless baby. But this person doesn’t stop to think it through. Where does the thinking that would lead someone to abortion come from? It comes from a very self-centered, self-determinism that has the same root of sin that a person who determines within himself that his own fervent righteousness can gain him God’s approval. The same root leads two different directions—one toward the murder of innocents, the other toward a life of dedicated church attendance. But sin is still sin, and it is still a life of hypocrisy to point out one as bad and yet the other is good!"Hypocrisy is the result of pride. This is in total opposition to Jesus, who is perfect humility and truth. Hypocrisy is nothing more than living in our own effort and strength according to the flesh, and not living in humility and truth according to the Spirit. The word hypocrite means "actor"- this is someone who is acting the part of religion yet they are living a lie. He appears formally and outwardly religious and good, but inwardly is insincere and unrighteous.As much as I myself am sensative to hypocrisy, this whole thing has left me under conviction myself. This is especially true of those of us who are given wisdom and zeal about certain things. The Pharisees were full of zeal- yet there was no love in it. They thought they knew it all, that only they knew the truth. They were wise in their own eyes, yet the bible warns of this: Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Ro. 12:9-16I believe what the Lord is trying to show me and others, is that the churches are full of pharisees/hypocrites. They are cleaning the outside of the cup- appearing to be clean and pure on the outside, yet are unclean and defiled on the inside- and ultimately leading people to their death because of it. This is happening in all denominations. There is so much pride in the churches. People/teachers being proud of their position, their level of maturity, their own church, their own teachings, their own wisdom. This hypocrisy is equal to all uncleanliness. This is what the Lord showed me in the dreams.I think it is very interesting how these "woes" to the pharisees is similar to the "woe to the shepherds" in Ezekiel 34. Both are religious leaders."Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them." As we all know, judgement begins at the house of God and that is exactly what I see here. I see the Lord giving religious leaders over to their own delusions because they have refused to repent and come clean. They have refused to be humble and lowly servants- as Jesus came to give us an example of. Again this shows the awful state of the churches that claim to be Christian. I feel for these people who are under these leaders and being led away to the slaughter.Personally, I feel that the Lord will raise up (and is already doing this) His own real shepherds who will lead His people as Jesus led the people. Jesus came to give us an example of how to teach and lead as a servant. Yes, Jesus is a mighty judge and is coming back as that - but we are not a mighty judge. He didn't come to give us that example when He came to earth- this example is the one we are to follow- the life that He led here. He came to show us to humble ourselves in all ways and do only what we see the Father wanting us to do.As much as I want to exhort people unto truth, I don't want to offend God. Before I have a right to exhort another, I must always look in my own heart first and see what uncleanliness there may be. When I look inside my heart, many times I must put my tail between my legs and humbly walk away- only asking the Lord how I can live as a better example so that it may be a light to ones who are living in untruth. I am not God, I am only a vessel to be used by Him to show His work, His love, His great power- in helping me overcome my "self". I pray that we all make ourselves available as empty vessels to be used however the Lord chooses- and not by our own planning, strength or wisdom. I will end with this:"In the final scene of The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful, after all their struggles, after their long journey from the City of Destruction, finally cross the river and enter into the Celestial City. They’re home in heaven. But then Bunyan shows us another man following them. His name is Ignorance. He’s helped across the river by Mr. Vain-Hope. And at the gate of heaven, when Ignorance can produce no evidence that he belongs to Jesus, the angels banish him. And Bunyan writes, "Then I saw that there was a way to hell even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction." In other words, you don’t have to live a hellish life to go to hell. You can get close to heaven, and still end up in hell. What a concept—one that very few contemplate, and one that Paul knows some will miss because of their posturing before God."Our posturing should be Jesus' example and that was "footwashing"- being a servant. Remember also the wheat and tares? The wheat bows low as it matures- the tares stand straight up taller and taller as it matures, yet they grow together. That is the only way to tell the difference.in Him, chanin

As much as I want to exhort people unto truth, I don't want to offend God. Before I have a right to exhort another, I must always look in my own heart first and see what uncleanliness there may be. When I look inside my heart, many times I must put my tail between my legs and humbly walk away- only asking the Lord how I can live as a better example so that it may be a light to ones who are living in untruth. I am not God, I am only a vessel to be used by Him to show His work, His love, His great power- in helping me overcome my "self". I pray that we all make ourselves available as empty vessels to be used however the Lord chooses- and not by our own planning, strength or wisdom.This is so true for myself. I want to point out issues and problems, but I need to examin the log in my eye first.In other words, you don’t have to live a hellish life to go to hell. You can get close to heaven, and still end up in hell. What a concept—one that very few contemplate, and one that Paul knows some will miss because of their posturing before God.I think about how wide the road is to destruction and how NARROW the road is to eternal life. This is so serious especially when God says, "depart from me, I never knew you" to people who thought they were going to heaven...Grace,Doug

THE STORY OF STEPHENStephen was assigned to serve tables in the fellowship. By embracing that lowest place of "anything for God" he began to emerge as one "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." Acts 6:5And his servant spirit, given over to the presence of Christ,"full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people."Some men of various origins - religious men - "rose up and argued with Stephen.But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking."The religious either hear you or kill you.These men incited false accusations, lies of blasphemy and "dragged him away and brought him before the Council." (The Sanhedrin)"And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Councilsaw his face like the face of an angel." Acts 6:15As they asked Stephen if the accusations were true.He didn't answer yes or no.He answered with a sermon from hisdeep knowledge of God's story written in his Jewish genes,now ringing clear by the Spirit's unveiling to his heart.Beginning with God's visit to Abraham, he preached through thepatriarchs, Isaac, Joseph, Moses down to David and his son, Solomon, proving he was not blasphemous, and knew scriptures withmemorable accuracy and profound understanding.Then his bold address turned toward the men examining him.Men with religious power, men with political power.Life and death power.Unafraid and unflinching,he began to undress and examine them!You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit;you are doing just as your fathers did.Stephen, the accused, became more menacing than the accusers.The offender rose up by righteous indignation in God's defensetold the truth, the real story. . .and the religious could not bear it, would not tolerate it.Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick,and they began gnashing their teeth at him.His unswerving loyalty to God was proven byconfronting the religious with the very zeal of the Lord of Hosts.The great test of God is whether we will blast the religiouswith the blazing force of Christ indwelling.Whether we are willing to be zealous for Him against the most vicious and deadly opponents: the religious.Stephen was clear to the point of transparent, so very clear.He knew who God was. He knew who they were andhe knew their power to kill him.As his reward,being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heavenand saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said,"Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Manstanding at the right hand of God."Standing. The Son, seated at God's right hand STOOD! in honor of Stephen, the preacher who would not diminish the message of accusation to the religious. Because Stephen stood for God against His masked enemies, Jesus stood for him.Confronting the religious with scathing truth opens the heavensfor a visible appearance of the Throne and the Son!It is the ultimate loyalty to God and brings His great favor and the reward of Himself.----------SAUL THE RELIGIOUS MANPaul stood by in hearty agreement to the stoning of Stephen.With violence toward the Way,without the disturbance of conscience,Paul held the coats of those who stoned Stephen.He watched the martyr die with glory and forgiveness on his lips.Likely he heard that sermon also. The indictment of the ones who would stone Stephen,an indictment of all Jews who rejected Jesus.Paul was as he described himself, a Hebrew of Hebrews.A religious man.His religious zeal persecuted God in the cause of God.PAUL THE NEW MANOn the way to Damascus for the purpose of persecution, Paul was mesmerized in the blinding Light of the Very One he persecuted. Acts 9Jesus froze him in fear, knocked him to the ground, andstruck him blind with blazing Light.The "religious" do not know God. They know only their ideas about Him.John 8:19 So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also."Then the Lord Jesus Himself isolated Paul in the desert for fourteen years and taught him the real God, the true Word and the meaning of grace.Drastic measures for a"religious" man, The religious can rarely be persuaded. So sure are they of being right with God!The few I have known who have come out of their "wrong faith" were those who were confronted in just such severe measure. Some through separation, some through constant discipline of God within the fellowship.Paul, his pride shattered, his stiff neck bowed his former life destroyed, "the loss of all things"his entire system of belief and thought transformed. All this from the God he persecuted, who was able to master and liberate the man from his vicious and murderous "religion of error."By the most amazing grace, this very one was assigned the major writings of the Epistles. His life was set forth as the example of grace and transformation. His tender father spirit was set forth to lead us.One who has chosen the religious hypocrisy has a basic zeal for God, vivid and entirely in error. May God have mercy to save us all from this hated stronghold!-(Martha Kilpatrick)

Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves? O. ChambersIf anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death —1 John 5:16 If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, ". . . he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death." Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself. One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5 ). We should intercede in accordance with what God says He will give us, namely, "life for those who commit sin not leading to death." It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey His mind to us regarding the people for whom we intercede. Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors. ---------------Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, "Don’t." The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person. There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5 ). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24 ). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God. ~Oswald Chambers

This is a soul-provoking thread Chanin. There are many things that kind of stick out as I read through this a couple of times. If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. I look within my own heart, particularly when I was younger, and see how critical I was, despite the log in my own eyes. Where is this intercession for those who are struggling in their Christian life? (This is more of a rhetorical question to myself.) Where is this heart for those sheep, who seemed to have lost their way?All of the sheep are important to Jesus, even those who have struggled mightily. I just pray for this kind of heart to those who are struggling and seem to be losing the battle.A hypocrite literally means "an actor under an assumed character" and I'm thankful to find brothers and sisters here who are transparent, first with God & themselves and then with others. Thank God for that. I think this transparency is one of the things that's missing in the life of many believers.

By the definitions of hypocrisy "an actor" and "an actor under an assumed character" these people never were saved but pretending by following all the conventions. "They will know us by our love one for another" sticks out in my mind. How do we know a real Christian? God says in I John if you can't love those brethren that you see, how can you love Me whom you have not seen? Which is were the foot washing statement takes on its practical, and sometimes irritating significance. About pride being the root of all evil, not. Love of money is the root of all evil. Many of those people are doing their routine for personal gain. Others are deceived and don't know any better. I've heard of people serving and learning in the church for years and have never been saved. Your dream sounds interesting. How come you didn't relate it to us?

Hi smichael,By the definitions of hypocrisy "an actor" and "an actor under an assumed character" these people never were saved but pretending by following all the conventions. I'm not so sure about this. I have caught myself being a hypocrite many times in the past and I'm sure it will not be the last time I am convicted of it. Though I used to live as a hypocrite before and was probably truly not saved- even now that I am walking the narrow path, I know I am not immune from falling into this sin again. Pretending to be holier than I am in front of someone, etc...About pride being the root of all evil, not."Humility, the place of entire dependance on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and highest virtue of man. It is the root of every virtue.And so pride, or the loss of this humility, is the root of every sin and evil". -Andrew Murray "Humility"Your dream sounds interesting. How come you didn't relate it to us? Actually I have shared it with a few on the forum personally, but feel it is too graphic to share in public and also have not felt led to share it publically. If anyone wants to inquire about it, I can certainly discuss it via "pm" or email. :)Thanks for your input and your interest.They will know us by our love one for another" sticks out in my mind.Love this verse, by the way!Satisfied in Him alone, chanin

Praise God for the wisdom on this thread!!! I pray God will help us all grow more and more in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the insights on this thread! It's very encouraging and thought-provoking. I pray God will continue to give us deep roots and clean us from the inside out.

I too believe that Pride is the Root of all Sin.Satan fell because of Pride. From pride everything branches off. It starts in your heart with the thought, "I can do better. I am better. I deserve this and that".The Bible does say that love of money is the root of all evil. But it all goes back to pride. The love of money can get you in trouble. You love money because you are greedy. You're greedy cause you're selfish. You're selfish cause you think you deserve it more than someone else. You think you deserve it more than someone else because you think you are better then them. That is pride! Pride is the ROOT of all sin.

Not only from the Bible have I learned how pride is at the root of sin- but it is also aparent in my own life and walk with the Lord. Every sin I commit is probably linked to hidden pride- even as I grow in the Lord, there is more hidden pride that i never knew existed.Pride is the most subtle sin. (Reminds me of the enemy).It causes us to turn away from God instead of turning to Him. All disobedience has pride as its root. All rebellion has pride behind it. All mistreatment of other people is caused by pride: someone putting their self and their feelings above the other person and their feelings.Pride causes people to do things apart from God. Keep their own rights and ways.The love of money may have caused me to stumble many years ago when i was a lukewarm christian- but definitely not in the last few years. I can't say the same for pride, though. I have to be honest and say that I know that there is still hidden pride that i know nothing about yet-but trust that the Lord will reveal more and more to me in time.Remember the sin of Sodom? It was not destroyed because of the love of money or even homosexuality- these were just the "effects" of the roots of their sins:"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. "And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit. Ezek. 16:49-50Again, sounds like North America. :-( Do you know that even being overly busy is pride-we think we can get along with out taking time for God. We want to do things our way right now.We are leaning on flesh and not on God.Also what comes to mind is: And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. "All these evil things come from within and defile a man." Mk. 7:20-23Money or wealth does not come out of a man's heart.

The New King James translates I Timothy 6:10 as:For the love of is money a root of all kinds of evil,The NASB:For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil,(Emphasis added)The immediate context (verse 9) is speaking to those who "want to get rich". The beginning verses of chapter 6 are addressing proud men and their distortions of the Truth. This leads me to believe that the Scriptures are not saying the love of money leads to all evil; much perhaps, but certainly not all.The logic presented by DelightedInU is consistent with the teaching of Scripture that all sin results from a low view of God and a high view of self. Only a proud man has a low view of God and a high view of himself. This is evident in Nathan's rebuke of David. The prophet levels four accusations about David's low view of God's name, God's Word and His reputation. Nothing is metioned of the fruit sin of murder and adultery; the root is addressed - pride."Take the axe to the root"

Do you know that even being overly busy is pride-we think we can get along with out taking time for God. We want to do things our way right now.Very true, moreofhim.Sadly, I know this and it is something that I need to work on... Making more time with God. I think lots of Christians deal with this. Realizing that their life is not their own to live. We need to put God first before out own plans.