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Jesus said 'beware' - don't be a hypocrite
The big idea is this: don't be a hypocrite. What is a hypocrite? In almost every case, God takes things that are negative and turns them into something positive. But in the case of the word "hypocrite," God did the opposite. He took a term that was positive at best and neutral at least and made it negative at last. To this day, "hypocrite" is a word which is exclusively negative. At the turn of the first century, a hypocrite was an interpreter or an actor. I used an interpreter when preaching in a foreign country, and it was a good thing. I enjoy watching good, talented actors and actresses on stage and film. Good interpreters and actors are, well, good. But when Jesus started referring to certain people as hypocrites, we know it was not a good thing. A hypocrite at heart is a pretender. An interpreter pretends to preach, but he is actually speaking someone else's words. An actor pretends to live a life, but it is a life of imitation or fiction. While those types of pretense are relatively harmless and even helpful, Jesus used the term in a more sinister sense. Jesus reinvented and reintroduced the word in the gospels. For the first time it appears three times in this text in Matthew. The word will come out of his mouth 21 times in the first three gospels. It is picked up four times by Paul, and once each by James and Peter. The meaning for us is clear. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be a Christian, but is not. Now the warning becomes ever clearer: don't be a hypocrite. "Beware," Jesus said, of "practicing your righteousness" the wrong way, for there is no eternal "reward" in it, only condemnation. Don't be a hypocrite. How can you spot a hypocrite? Jesus offered three ways in his three uses of the term. You can spot a hypocrite by the way they give, pray and fast. These were the three chief acts of piety for first century Jews. Since Jesus came not to abolish the law but fulfill it, he expects his followers to do these things. But he tempers his command with a warning: don't be a hypocrite. Hypocrites give a certain way. In Jesus' day, there were literally tooting their own horn. Under the guise of "let's take an offering" they were really shouting "look at me give an offering." Not all offerings have to be secret, but no offering is supposed to be selfish. It is supposed to be about the giving, not the giver. Hypocrites pray a certain way. In Jesus' day these prayers were long, wordy, and undoubtedly selfish. Such prayers typically have more "Is" than a potato. It is supposed to be about who God is and what he has done, not about who I am and what I have done. Hypocrites fast a certain way. Fasting represents suffering and sacrifice for God. Hypocrites are glad to do it and glad for you to know it. They like to look the part. But it is supposed to be about what we gain, not what we give up. The common thread in all these ways is that they are done to gain the approval of man instead of God. They pretend to please God, but they are truly done to please men and promote self. An interpreter has to be seen and heard for the good of others. An actor has to be seen and heard for the good of others. The hypocrite has to be seen and heard for the good of himself. I don't hate hypocrites. I pity them. I'll tell you why. He has sold his soul for the praise of man, and in reality he has lost them both. No one in heaven or earth has room in their heart for a hypocrite. So pity them, but don't be one of them. Don't be a hypocrite. How can we avoid becoming a hypocrite? First of all, make sure you are taking the right actions in your life. Notice Jesus did not say if you give, pray and fast. He said when. In other words, there are certain activities that must take place in your life, not in order to become a Christian, but because you are a genuine Christian. Real Christians give, pray, fast and engage in other Christian and church activities. If you don't do them because, well, that's what hypocrites do, then by your own confession you have become worse than a hypocrite. Take your choice. You can either go to church with them or go to hell with them. Secondly, since hypocrites do participate in religious activity, make sure your actions are accomplished with the right attitude. In other words, do what you do for God and for others, not for your own advancement or admiration. Make sure you would do what you are doing even if no one knew but God, and try to do it that way. Thirdly and finally, if your right actions are performed with the right attitude, you will gain the right rewards. That reward is a person. For real righteousness is not a religious performance, but a relationship with a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. He loves me and he is my Lord. He saved me and he is my savior.
The main reason I do what I do is because he is who he is. And he is my reward, and the reward of all who follow him with a sincere, not hypocritical, faith. Don't be a hypocrite.
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