Will the real hypocrite please stand up?
You know how sometimes you can read a portion of the bible or a story and you glaze over it because you have read it so many times before? Your mind is like,” Hey, I know this one, I’m just going to go into cruise control and drift. “ It happens to me…a lot. The other day As I was reading a portion of scripture I have read many times before something caught my eye, and it really made me stop and think. Have you ever read Luke 12? Jesus is talking to a group of people and warning them to “ beware of the leaven of the pharisees”. He is essentially saying, “watch out for hypocrisy!” Beware of people who claim to believe in Jesus, who live their lives as though they are perfect christians, but in their heart…that’s another matter. In Luke 12: 2-4 Jesus speaks these words,
The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed and every secret will be made known. Whatever you have said in the dark ill be heard in the light.
That’s right…all inner motives and matters of the heart will become an open book. We are not talking about Facebook updates here people. God is saying He will shine the light in and you will have no where to hide. Sounds kind of scary and embarrassing doesn’t it? It doesn’t need to be though, If you are a true believer you have nothing to fear.
In fact, a few verses later Jesus states one of the most frequently quoted phrases in the bible,
What is the price of five sparrows- 2 copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. Are not the very hairs of your head numbered? So don’t be afraid; You are more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows”
Has anyone ever told you that you are more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows? Not your usual term of endearment or romantic phrase;) In this case though, it warms the heart and makes you feel loved and safe. God loves you a whole bunch, you are valuable to Him. If you are a true believer, a child of God, you have nothing to fear. If that is the focus of your heart you won’t need to worry about being a hypocrite. Even if no one else sees it, God does.
The part of scripture that really jumped out at me was a few verses down from this. In verse 13 we are given a perfect example of everything that Jesus has been speaking on. It’s as if the man in verse 13 was doing what I did when I read this chapter hundreds of times before, his brain must have been on autopilot when he was listening. It’s not clear wether Jesus paused in his message or if this man interrupts but he seems to have a burning request he wants Jesus to answer,
Then someone called from the crowd,” Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our Father’s estate with me.”
Seems like a legitimate request. I mean today we have all kinds of laws in place to protect inheritance and wills. Lawyers in fancy suits take care of these matters and make sure all is fair. But Jesus doesn’t say,” Wow, that’s really unfair. We better sort this out right away.” and he doesn’t say,” Go and hire a really good lawyer and make your brother pay.” No, Jesus turns the words around and and tells the man,
Who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that? Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Jesus looks right at the man and sees the selfishness in his heart, he sees his motives. Ouch! That must have hurt. I mean, this man was the victim, he was owed inheritance and his greedy brother wasn’t giving him any. From any human standpoint this man had every right to demand his share. His brother was a thief and a hypocrite! But wait… Jesus says no…YOU are the hypocrite. Look what’s in your own heart. It’s as if Jesus is saying,” weren’t you listening? This is what we just talked about, selfishness and hypocrisy. You are missing the whole point man!” Don’t get wrapped up in physical things, in material possessions. Focus on spiritual things. The main issue here is…what’s in your heart.
It’s easy to spot a hypocrite, unless it’s the one in the mirror. Where is your heart at today? Are you the hypocrite that presents one thing to the outside world and lives another in your heart? Are you so caught up in the things that others are doing that you can’t see the issues in your own life?
It’s easy to justify our selfishness and make excuses. It’s easy to point out all the good things we do. What’s not easy is examining our heart. Looking at our motives, pulling out the weeds of selfishness, covetousness, pride and anger. I encourage you today to take a good long look at what’s going on inside. Ask God to help you sort it out, to see what’s really there. What this work needs is genuine followers of Jesus, people that love as he loved and are willing to sacrifice self for the calling. These kind of people are rare and true gems. Be one of them, look for them, encourage others to be them. There’s plenty of hypocrites out there, make sure that the person looking back at you in the mirror isn’t one of them!
