Have you ever been told not to do a certain thing, or to stop doing something? We may not realize it, but every day that we drive down the highway we have the speed limit signs telling us to not exceed the posted limit. These laws are enforced by the local police officers, the county sheriffs, and the state patrol troopers, and it is their duty to enforce the law by warning, and or giving out monetary fines to those who break the speed limit law.
Suppose that one morning on your way to work you had been pulled over for driving too fast, and were given a speeding ticket as well as a verbal warning to obey the speed limit by an officer, but later that day as you were driving home from work you witnessed that same police officer get into his personal vehicle, and proceed to drive himself home at a speed well over the posted speed limit. How would you feel about that? It would probably upset you a bit, wouldn’t it? The same person who condemned you for breaking the law themselves did the exact same thing. There is a word for this kind of behavior, and it is called hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is the contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations, and the claim or pretense of having beliefs, standards, qualities, behaviors, virtues, motivations, etc. which one does not actually have. It is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another.
Romans 2:21-29 “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
In the book of Romans, Paul seems to have written a large portion of it to those who were Jews, or used to be Jews, and he taught them that “If you are going to tell others to follow the Law, are you yourselves following it?”
If the measure of circumcision was to keep the law, wouldn’t those who were not Jews by blood, if they kept the Law, be counted the same as the Jews? As leaders in the Jewish religion, the Pharisees and Sadducees should have been examples to the people of how to live and act. However, while they may have taught the law and commanded the people to keep the law, some of them didn’t keep it themselves. This hypocrisy upset the Lord greatly, as is evidenced throughout the Gospels when He rebuked them. They commanded others to abide according to the law, but they themselves would not.
Matthew 23:1-5 “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,”
They knew the law, certainly. But their works were only “for show,” to be seen by others, and to receive their praise. In the situation with the adulterous woman, they practically pointed their fingers at her and said “Sinner! Sinner! Stone her!” But a check from the Lord showed their hypocrisy, as they realized that they couldn’t stone her for her sins, because they too had sinned.
This is why we need to seriously study our own selves before we judge others for their indiscretions. We need ask ourselves what our problems are, and how they need to be fixed. We don’t want to add the sin of hypocrisy on top of our own list of sins. We need to examine ourselves as Paul taught (2 Corinthians 13:5). In order to judge others, we first need to judge ourselves. Because if we fail our own judgement, then we are just hypocrites.
Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
This is something that I have written several times, but look at yourself first, and your own problems. What are they? Take care of those things first before you go and condemn others for that same thing. Look in the mirror at yourself. Don’t be a hypocrite.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 