Am I a Hypocrite?: Letting Jesus look behind the mask

Everyone says the church is full of hypocrites. Are they right? Probably. But before you start thinking of the hypocrites you know, start a little closer to home. Are you a hypocrite?

A hypocrite is someone who has an image that doesn’t match the reality. A hypocrite appears differently depending on when and where you see them and whether they know you’re looking. A hypocrite is an actor, a two-faced mask wearer. Everybody hates hypocrites. To be called two-faced is a huge insult. That’s why it stings when we hear the claim that the church is full of them.

Funnily enough, Jesus also called a lot of religious people hypocrites. If I call someone a hypocrite, I might be wrong, but when God starts calling people hypocrites, we’d better listen.

I hope that, as we look at the reasons why Jesus calls people hypocrites, we would recognise hypocrisy in ourselves. But don’t stop there, leaving in despair or vowing to try harder to stop being a hypocrite. Look at Jesus, the only non-hypocritical person who ever lived. The only way to not be a hypocrite is to know the one who died for your hypocrisy.