Many years ago, a friend stopped by my office to talk to me about something. As soon as he walked in, I noticed that something was wrong: he was red-faced and somewhat agitated (which was unusual for him). So I asked (accused) him: “why are you so angry? You’re red-faced…” And he said, “why are you assuming I’m angry? I am on medication that has made my face flushed and because of the medication I haven’t slept well and I’m having trouble processing…”
I immediately repented and sought his forgiveness. But that also reminded me that we are too quick to judge others, and we are too slow to examine ourselves. We tend to pull back from self-examination; we find it easier to examine (and condemn) others. But Jesus says it is right and good for us to start with self-examination. And having examined our own hearts, we will be equipped to help others.
So how can we examine our hearts for critical spirits and hypocrisy (attacking someone’s Mr. Speck and ignoring our Mr. Beam, Lk. 6:41-42)? The New Testament offers several descriptions of hypocrisy that can help us identify its presence in our lives:
- A hypocrite is more concerned to correct the sins of others than he is to address his own sin — “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5).
- A hypocrite is not a sinner because he does wrong things. It is likely that he does the RIGHT things, but with the WRONG heart (motivation) — “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men’ ” (Matt. 15:7).
- A hypocrite’s sin is multiplied because he not only destroys his own faith, but he destroys the faith of others as well — “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in” (Matt. 23:13). {Note that Matthew 23:14ff includes 7 woes which Christ spoke against the Pharisees for the hypocrisy of their lives.}
- A hypocrite misses the intent and purposes of Scripture — “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” (Luke 12:56).
- One who truly loves (either God or man) will love with a love that is “hypocrisy-free” — “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good (Rom. 12:9).
- A hypocrite is one who has willfully killed his conscience; he has so quenched the Spirit of God that God’s Word no longer influences him — “by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Tim. 4:2).
- When a man is a hypocrite, he is a hypocrite by choice. He does not have to live a life of hypocrisy — Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (1 Pet. 2:1).
When we hypocritically ignore our own sins, we are blind to help others. But, having repented and experienced the transforming work of Christ in our lives, we are given sight to also minister to others who are also in a struggle against sin.
“Stacks of Logs” by mikecogh is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Words of Grace 