Beloved of God

Speaking lies in hypocrisy (II Timothy 4:2a)

-lies (pseudologos) mendacious, i.e. promulgating erroneous doctrine

-mendacious - prone to or marked by lying or deceit; untruthful

-promulgating - to make known or put into effect by public declaration

-erroneous - containing an error; mistaken

-hypocrisy (hupokrisis) acting under a feigned part, i.e. deceit

Hypocrites practice good deeds but have wrong motives.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward (Matthew 6:2)

Hypocrites decide for themselves what is doctrinal truth and what is not.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone (Matthew 23:23)

Hypocrites teach good deeds but live a life that doesn’t reflect their own teaching.

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not (Matthew 23:2, 3)

[Ref. Matt. 6:1-6, 16-18; 23:1-31]

Though a blblical teaching, I don’t believe this only applies to Christians. There are times parents scold their children for doing things that they themselves practice. Such behavior may cause a child to rebel against and/or resent their parent. While watching television, I would sometimes say, “You dummy!” to whomever may have made a comment or decision that was, in my opinion, unintelligent. Well, my two year-old nephew wasted no time picking up the phrase. While dummy isn’t a vulgar word, it didn’t take me long to realize that it was something I didn’t want him saying so I had to stop saying it. As difficult as it may be, before we set standards for someone else, we should be living by or at least making an effort to live by that standard as well.

Christians are not hypocrites as I have heard some say. There are just a lot of hypocrites pretending to be Christians. But an actor can only stay in character for so long, and it is when they get out of character that gives Christians a bad rep. I must admit that I, an imperfect Christian, display behaviors similar to those of a hypocrite. Does this make me a hypocrite? No, it just makes me human.

So if the Christian and the Christian-playing hypocrite both possess hypocritical behaviors, what’s the difference between the two? The difference is, unlike a hypocrite, a genuine Christian recognizes his error, has a willingness to change, and eventually does so. A genuine hypocrite refuses to recognize his error, has no intention of changing, and never does.

Next study: II timothy 4:2b, The Seared Conscience

*Note: Standard English definition was taken from Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary (Houghton Mufflin Company, 1996)

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