“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish but inside they are full of greed and self –indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”    Matt 23:25-26 NIV

When we hear the word, ‘Hypocrisy’ we automatically think of double standards. Where someone says one thing and does the opposite! However, in reality it means much more than this.  This idea of hypocrisy in popular culture came from the lips of Jesus.  Jesus borrowed the word from the Romans. In Jesus’ day, a hypocrite was a Roman actor, someone who wore a mask, who acted in a Roman theatre. The Actors wore masks either with a smile or frown and would show the opposite face to the audience. A smiling face might show a frown, or frowning mask might hide a hidden smile.

After reading though the gospels countless times I am struck by this major issue that troubled Jesus.  Jesus did not candy coat his words in his criticism, calling the hypocrites: Snakes, Broods of Vipers, White Washed Tombs and so on.  I wonder what Jesus would say today?

We value fashionable looks and sexy bodies more than personal integrity. We are encouraged by helping professionals to build a ‘positive self image’; by downsizing our negatives and upside our positives. We are taught to find our value in our self-esteem and not in God!

Never before in human history has personal image been so important, , If you doubt this just ask an image consultant,  PR firm or marketing agency?

I believe the reason why Jesus was so opposed to the over emphasis of “the public image” was that it prevents us from coming to God. It stops us from experiencing the grace of God. It keeps our eyes and ears focused on the praises of men and women.  We Play the praise game and hunt for praise instead of coming to God on a heart level. We seek our personal value in the esteem and praises of others instead of finding our personal value in the unmerited favour of a loving God.

Part 1 of Hypocrisy the Grace Killer is about seeking esteem in one’s self image instead of finding our esteem in grace. Next week in part 2: I will look at Jesus’ teaching on what causes us to over value our public image of ourselves and make us into hypocrites?

It may sound strange but seeking praise is a grace killer. Jesus gives us a clear picture in Matthew’s gospel of what stops us from experiencing the grace of God.  When we give our hearts to seeking praise, honour and status we are in a dangerous place.

In Jesus’ day there were four main ways you expressed your faithfulness to God:

1. Prayer
2. Giving to the poor
3. Fasting
4. Oath taking

Over the next four weeks I will look at how seeking praise in: Prayer, Giving, Fasting and Oaths will stop us experiencing the grace of God.

Next week: The Danger of Praise & Prayer