Hypocrites

Hypocrites

Mark 12:13-17

“I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites.  They sing and pray and act all holy on Sundays, but the rest of the week?  Just terrible!  You should hear them in the back yard—or at work, or at school, or wherever I see them.  Their behavior is anything but Christian.  I certainly don’t want to be associated with those people!  I’ll stay home, read the paper, work in the yard or watch TV, thank you very much.  Probably get more out of that than listening to some preacher tell me I’m a sinner and have to change my ways when he can’t control his own temper.”

How often have we heard these words—or words like them—from people we’ve invited to attend church with us?  And the worst part is we have to agree with them.  They’re right.  The church is full of hypocrites, and many of our fellow churchgoers—either at our church or others—behave so badly between Sundays that they give Christianity a black eye.  What can we say in return?

This is not a new problem.  Jesus faced it throughout his ministry.  In almost every encounter with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, or the scribes—the religious leaders of his day—he had to deal with hypocritical behavior.  These men preached one way and lived another.  There’s a great passage in Matthew 23 where Jesus really lets them have it.  It’s labeled “Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees” in my Bible. 

Jesus is in the temple on the day after his triumphal entry into the city.  The religious leaders try to trap him, and he responds by condemning their behavior in language so strong the only thing that saves him from being swept from the city and stoned is the crowd surrounding him.  His words condemn many of today’s religious leaders as well.

But it is another incident I want to focus on today.  This time it’s Pharisees and Herod’s followers (strange bedfellows indeed!) who try to use Jesus’ words to trap him.  They begin (v. 14) with compliments so phony it doesn’t take someone with mindreading powers to see through them.  We can imagine the crowd groaning inwardly and saying (to themselves, of course), “Come on!  Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Mark tells us that Jesus knows their hypocrisy.  He’s seen this act before, and he can hear insincerity not only in their words but in the tone of their voices as well.  As usual, he gives them an answer that escapes the trap and turns the tables on them. 

The extent of their hypocrisy is evident when Jesus asks for someone to show him a denarius.  This is the temple.  Only Jewish coinage is allowed.  For one of them to have a denarius is to break their own religious laws.  Their action condemns them even before Jesus answers their question.

It's not difficult for us to spot hypocrisy—that is, everyone else’s hypocrisy.  We are all hypocrites in one way or another.  None of us perfectly lives up to the Christianity we profess.  In that regard, our critics who use the hypocrite excuse to defend staying away from church are correct. 

What’s the difference between us and the religious leaders of Jesus’ day?  On the surface, nothing.  But we know we’re trying our best to live up to the standard Jesus set.  Our sincere attempt to follow his teaching doesn’t let us off the hook, but does indicate that we know we have to improve, and with God’s help we’re trying to be less hypocritical and more Christlike.

So…how do we answer our critics who tell us they don’t want to associate with a bunch of hypocrites?  All we can do is live out the gospel as best we can and leave the rest to God.