Hypocrisy

by Mike Ratliff

1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5 (NASB) 

I believe that I have been called a hypocrite more since I began this blog than any other part of my life. No matter who says it or writes it, though, it still stings. What is so troubling to me, however, is not that I am called that, but that most believers are ignorant of the fact that the most prevalent example of hypocrisy is to profess Christ as Lord and Saviour, while being totally enslaved to one’s flesh with the resultant fleshly behavior that is the fruit of pride.

Our Lord’s usage of the word “hypocrite” in Matthew 7:5 was the Greek word “hupokrites.” This word is a derivative of the word “hupokrinomai.” The “hupo” portion of both words is from the preposition “hupo.” This word means “under” indicating secrecy. The second part of each word above is derived from the Greek word “krino.” It means, “to judge” or “to divide” or “to separate.” By the time of the New Testament era, “hupokrites” had come to mean an actor who wore a mask impersonating a character. Its common usage was to refer to a counterfeit, a man who assumes and speaks or acts under a feigned character. The one doing this did so in order to distinguish oneself.

With that in mind, let us look closely at our Lord’s words from Matthew 7:1-5. In v1 our Lord gives us a command. Most translate it thus, “Judge Not!” or “Do not Judge!” The verb structure here is present, imperative, active. The present imperative occurs only in the active and middle voices in the New Testament. In the active voice, it may indicate a command to do something in the future which involves continuous or repeated action or, when it is negated, as in v1, a command to stop doing something. Since this is present, imperative, active, this command is to stop doing something that has become a way of life. This something is to judge in a way that brings judgment back on oneself. We have to make judgments or we could never make decisions. So our Lord isn’t telling us to stop all judging, but we are to stop judging sinfully. If we skip down to Matthew 7:13-20 we see where we are to make judgment calls about the veracity of believers professions of faith.

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:13-20 (NASB) 

Therefore, we know that our Lord’s command from v1 to “Do not judge” is not referring to all judging so we must determine what He is forbidding us to do and then repent of it by His grace. Here is the entire passage again.

1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5 (NASB) 

We find our answer in our Lord’s examples and analogies here followed by the word that describes the ones who do this. The ones judging sinfully are doing so in a way that will bring about the judgment on self to the level or measure of how they mete it out. They are critical of others while being guilty of doing the same thing they are bringing to light. Jesus calls them hypocrites. Using our definition from above we know that the purpose of this type of judging is to make self look good. It is done pretentiously to put others down in way that will make self look better. Jesus says that the ones being criticized by the hypocrites probably are guilty and the only way we can help them is to repent of our own sins first then get right with God (1 John 1:9) then we can come along side our brothers and sisters and help them into the light as well.

I find this very interesting because Jesus is actually teaching us here to live humble, repentant lives so that we can help others repent in our humility rather than in our hypocrisy. If we rebuke professing believers who are in apostasy or deep in some sin from any self-oriented motivation while we are being hypocritical, the result will not be their repentance. Instead, we will bring judgment back on self. On the other hand, if we humbly obey our Lord in rebuking those enslaved to sin or apostasy from the motivation of delivering them from darkness we will not bring judgment back on self and God will use us to either draw them into the light or cause our words to be judgment against them if they do not repent.

Lastly, if we are to do battle in this arena of spiritual darkness, we must be prepared. That means we cannot fight effectively if we are in any form of hypocrisy ourselves. Paul was extremely effective as God’s warrior because he was content wherever God had him. In this state, his concern was never for self, but always on the repentance or obedience of those with whom he dealt with the ultimate goal of their edification and future glory with God. (Philippians 4) Therefore, let us not be hypocrites. Let us be penitent former hypocrites who are eternally grateful for the grace of God in us. Where would any of us be without God’s Amazing Grace?

Soli Deo Gloria!