Some potential problems are far more theoretical than actual.
All the plans made for Y2K disaster were made for a theoretical problem. Y2K was not much of an actual problem. Most (all?) of the worries that awaken us at night and keep us awake are not real problems — very few come to fruition. The car accidents that we are afraid of happening to us might happen. But they rarely do.
Often the problems and struggles we think and fret about are in the realm of possibility, but they happen infrequently.
But the hypocrite problem is a real problem. It’s not theoretical. It’s very much a potential that I might live hypocritically. That’s why Jesus regularly repudiated the Pharisees for their hypocrisy (six times in Luke 11:42-52). And it is why He regularly warned His listeners (both the crowds and the disciples) of the potential of following the pattern of the hypocrites. For instance, immediately after condemning the Pharisees with the six woes in Luke 11, Jesus says to the disciples in Luke 12:1, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” In fact, Luke emphasizes that Jesus was particularly addressing the Twelve: “He began saying to His disciples first…”
The Twelve were not excluded from the potential to be hypocrites. It’s not hard to fall into and cultivate patterns of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a real problem.
Yet we also should remember that there are at least three kinds of hypocrisy (see Knowing Sin):
- Natural hypocrisy — the hypocrisy that is from original sin and that every person enters the world bearing.
- Soul-destroying hypocrisy — the hypocrisy of the Pharisees; the life-dominating, soul-characterizing pride and spiritual ostentatiousness that rejects genuine holiness in favor of illegitimate, self-sufficient holiness.
- Occasional hypocrisy — the hypocrisy that periodically shows up in the life of the believer even though he hates the acts of hypocrisy and yearns for ultimate and complete transformation.
These distinctions acknowledge that hypocrisy is a reality for every person, including the believer. Because of the flesh and remaining sin, there will be spiritual failures in which the believer lives contrary to the truth he believes and teaches. Every believer knows that reality. We are not perfectly consistent in our lives. Pastors preach beyond their practice every Sunday. We all fail. We all act hypocritically on occasion.
But there is a difference between a failure (or an occasional failure) and a characteristic of life. There is a difference between a hypocritical act and a hypocritical identity. Just because we may have done something hypocritical today doesn’t necessarily mean that our identity is “hypocrite” or “Pharisee.”
So did you act hypocritically today? Then repent. Acknowledge your sin to the Lord and the ones against whom you sinned. Then walk in forgiveness, cultivating the habits of genuine godliness.
Hypocrisy is a temptation for every person. But it does not need to define who we are. Hypocrisy can be avoided, redeemed, and transformed.
Booyabazooka on English Wikipedia, he:משתמש:נעמה מ on Hebrew Wikipedia, edited by The Anome to remove background ellipse and balance positions of images within frame, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
