The road to hypocrisy
This week's goodness is on Matthew 23:1-4:
I was watching a special last night on a family that was involved with Al-Qaeda, and who knew Osama Bin Laden. Like most cult leaders, he would forbid luxuries for people who lived in his compound, citing all sorts of religious reasons, but for his own sons, the rules weren't there. In religious circles you see it too. Preachers preach purity over and over, while living an immoral lifestyle in their own personal lives. In secular politics, the same things play out. Al Gore preaches a reduction in use of energy, while flying all over the world in jets and living in giant mansion with a huge carbon footprint. We do it too, because it's so easy.
It's easy to say "This rule is for you, not for me." Corporate executives freeze their employees salaries, or even reduce them, while giving themselves huge bonuses. If they actually realized the hypocrisy in that, I doubt they'd do it. Instead, their reasoning is so buried in justifications and complicated loopholes that they are blind. "We need to give ourselves bonuses like that because we're accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and it would be difficult to retain talent of our caliber if we didn't offer those sort of perks." Maybe the guru living in Seattle justifies riding around in limousines between his mansions while telling his followers to live lives of poverty because he thinks he's conquered materialism? The rich ivory tower professor who condemns "white flight" and tells her students they should be buying houses in the ghetto to bring culture and wealth to the poor, while herself living in a gated community? You get the idea.
As Christians we're supposed to be different. We have the means at our disposal to be different. We have access to God, the overseer and creator of the universe. He will point out our hypocrisy, if we're listening. We're also commanded to be humble, and to practice humility. That means being aware of ourselves and how we relate to others.
As the Pharisees developed over the years, growing into a position of power over the Jews, they became blind to their hypocrisy. I doubt it happened all at once. They probably started off really dedicated to God, really holy and passionate about doing what was right. As time progressed, they likely became more isolated in their circle of leadership, and less aware of the daily conditions of the people who looked up to them. Soon, they developed into their own social class, making rules and pronouncements for the people attending synagogue, but themselves only focusing on appearance because they'd already arrived at righteousness. They probably had no idea.
This happens so frequently and with such predictability, that it's a wonder we don't plan this into our church and career plans. There always comes a point where wisdom forms ritual, and then the wisdom leaks out of the ritual and all you have is a dead framework. We have to examine ourselves for this. Have we become hypocritical since this whole thing started? Are we disconnected? Have we outsourced the prayer and the sacrifice and the discipleship of new believers to other people, while still expecting ourselves to be respected as experienced believers? The thing about going blind is that you don't realize it until you pick up a book and you can't read what's written, or you go for a drive and you can't read the signs that tell where you're going.
Don't let yourself become a hypocrite. Examine your life. Be connected to God. Be alive.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
I was watching a special last night on a family that was involved with Al-Qaeda, and who knew Osama Bin Laden. Like most cult leaders, he would forbid luxuries for people who lived in his compound, citing all sorts of religious reasons, but for his own sons, the rules weren't there. In religious circles you see it too. Preachers preach purity over and over, while living an immoral lifestyle in their own personal lives. In secular politics, the same things play out. Al Gore preaches a reduction in use of energy, while flying all over the world in jets and living in giant mansion with a huge carbon footprint. We do it too, because it's so easy.
It's easy to say "This rule is for you, not for me." Corporate executives freeze their employees salaries, or even reduce them, while giving themselves huge bonuses. If they actually realized the hypocrisy in that, I doubt they'd do it. Instead, their reasoning is so buried in justifications and complicated loopholes that they are blind. "We need to give ourselves bonuses like that because we're accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and it would be difficult to retain talent of our caliber if we didn't offer those sort of perks." Maybe the guru living in Seattle justifies riding around in limousines between his mansions while telling his followers to live lives of poverty because he thinks he's conquered materialism? The rich ivory tower professor who condemns "white flight" and tells her students they should be buying houses in the ghetto to bring culture and wealth to the poor, while herself living in a gated community? You get the idea.
As Christians we're supposed to be different. We have the means at our disposal to be different. We have access to God, the overseer and creator of the universe. He will point out our hypocrisy, if we're listening. We're also commanded to be humble, and to practice humility. That means being aware of ourselves and how we relate to others.
As the Pharisees developed over the years, growing into a position of power over the Jews, they became blind to their hypocrisy. I doubt it happened all at once. They probably started off really dedicated to God, really holy and passionate about doing what was right. As time progressed, they likely became more isolated in their circle of leadership, and less aware of the daily conditions of the people who looked up to them. Soon, they developed into their own social class, making rules and pronouncements for the people attending synagogue, but themselves only focusing on appearance because they'd already arrived at righteousness. They probably had no idea.
This happens so frequently and with such predictability, that it's a wonder we don't plan this into our church and career plans. There always comes a point where wisdom forms ritual, and then the wisdom leaks out of the ritual and all you have is a dead framework. We have to examine ourselves for this. Have we become hypocritical since this whole thing started? Are we disconnected? Have we outsourced the prayer and the sacrifice and the discipleship of new believers to other people, while still expecting ourselves to be respected as experienced believers? The thing about going blind is that you don't realize it until you pick up a book and you can't read what's written, or you go for a drive and you can't read the signs that tell where you're going.
Don't let yourself become a hypocrite. Examine your life. Be connected to God. Be alive.
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