A Different Kind of Hypocrite

You’ve likely heard it said that Christians are hypocrites. It’s such a common thing to hear that I’ve got a neat little joke that gets a laugh about every time. If someone objects to coming to church because it is “full of hypocrites”, I usually tell them, “Don’t worry, we’ve got room for one more.” This little quip isn’t original with me. But I’ve used it because it is an effective way of saying we are all hypocrites in some way. Yet, there is a way in which a Christian is a different kind of hypocrite from an unbeliever.

We define a hypocrite as someone who is different in public than they are in private. If you pretend to be a loving and kind person but inwardly you loath the sight of other humans, then you are a hypocrite. A people pleaser just like the Pharisees. When who you are outwardly doesn’t reflect who you are inwardly then you are being a hypocrite.

Consider, though, a believer who is engaging in angry gossip. Who is this man, really? He is one who has been redeemed. He has been given a new heart with new desires along with a new identity. He is truly a new self. This new self is not given to angry gossip and slander. Such things belong to the old self. So, yes he is being a hypocrite, but not in the way an unbeliever might imagine. It’s not as if he is really and angry gossip—that this is his identity—and his kindness and graciousness on other occasions are all a sham. No, in reality his hypocrisy goes in another direction. He is being outwardly someone that he is not inwardly; namely, an angry gossip.

In the Scripture we are motivated to be who we are in reality. The problem with those who’ve actually been born again is not that we just pretend like we’ve been made new but inwardly we are still dead men’s bones. The problem is that we are being hypocrites by living like we haven’t been changed. We are living according to the old man. We are putting on those old smelly clothes instead of walking in the newness of life that has been purchased for us. That is much different from the man who actually hasn’t been born again but he walks around pretending like he has. This man really does have an angry and slanderous heart but he likes people to think he doesn’t. That’s a hypocrite too but in a much different way.

My reason for pointing this out is to encourage believers to know our identity in Christ and to live in who we have been. For us to stop being a hypocrite is to be authentic to who Christ has made us to be. Your authenticity is not to make peace with sin and rebellion. Your authentic self is one whose identity is wholly shaped by Christ. Be who you really are means be holy.

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