Make Every Moment Count

I tweeted this week a question to my facebook friends and followers asking for help preparing this message asking the question, “What do you hate most about hypocrisy?”

Here are some of their answers:

Bob writes: The church has been classified by non believers as a place of hypocrisy. And, rightly so when Believers begin to elevate themselves above those outside the Church —the sinners. We are all sinners. Hypocrisy allows us to see our sin as less and judge another’s sin as greater. I hate hypocrisy because it gives unbelievers an excuse to reject the Church and shun the Gospel.

Elizabeth writes: I remember as I was seeking the Lord and went to the church for the first time in years… (also expecting [my son] Andrew and my hands were so swollen, I couldn’t wear my wedding ring)… there were people who would look at my big belly and then look at my hands and when they didn’t see my ring, they assumed that I wasn’t married. Many wouldn’t even speak or would snub me even in the church! I only went to that church one time, but it intrigued me how quick people are to judge others..and even in the house of the Lord!

“Judge not that you be not judged” is quoted by a lot of people who don’t have the foggiest idea what Jesus meant by that. And I dare say that the people who quote this verse the most are the ones who understand it the least.

Well, what was Jesus saying in Matthew 7?

Truths about Hypocrites:

► Hypocrites face severe consequences.

Matthew 7:1-2

The word judge in the Greek is kree’-no (krinete ^PWS: 2209). It means to criticize or condemn. It is NOT the moral judgments we have to make sometimes. It is being over precise and legalistic. It is the habit of dishing out criticism.

Can we say that lying, all forms of lying, are wrong according to God’s standard? Yes, we can, and we can do so without violating the principle Jesus gives here in verse 1 to not judge.

The judging Jesus speaks of is criticizing those who have slipped, fallen, stumbled into sin and they are greatly sorrowful and want to change, but we don’t give them a chance.

When someone has stumbled into sin that is the best time to reach down with compassion and pull that person up, lifting him or her to safety. This is always to be done in a spirit of humility and love.

Before we go any further let’s come up with a working definition for Hypocrite so that we will all be on the same page.

Hypocrisy can be more than living a double standard life. It can also be living insincere.

A Hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, that he or she does not actually possess, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements contradict his or her public statements.

We can’t know everything in everybody else’s heart. I can’t read all your motives. I can’t see you as God does. So we need to give others the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise.

Hypocrites face severe consequences,

► Hypocrites fail to examine themselves.

Matthew 7:3

Would you go to a doctor who was severely obese?

Would you go to a dentist who had false teeth?

Would you listen to a pastor who owned a pornographic book store?

Why not?

Because you and I and everybody else would say they are hypocritical and we would be accurate.

The Hypocrite fails to examine HIS OWN sin. He is inconsistent in his judgment. The phrase “look at” in the New King James is the word “behold” in the Original King James. It has the idea of continuing to look. Too often people continue to look at the failures of others through gossip, innuendo and rumor without looking at their own behavior. People spend forever passing on bad news about other people without examining their own actions and that according to Jesus is sinful.

► Hypocrites fool themselves.

Matthew 7:4-5

Do you realize that you are just as human and as sinful as the next person in the eyes of the Lord? What right do you have to condemn your brother if he is willing to change, confess and repent?

Sometimes others need our help in getting splinters of sin out of their lives.

Often times one of my two daughters will come to either Melody or me and say daddy, my foot is hurting. I’ll look at the bottom of her foot and notice a dark splinter. Now do you think I just fuss at her for getting the splinter in her foot and then just leave it there? No. I remove the splinter then I deal with how it got there and how to avoid more in the future.

So Jesus is not saying never help a brother remove sin from his life, but first get the beam if sin out of your own eye so that you can see to get the small one out of his.

So what is the message of Matthew 7:1-6? I think it’s a warning for us to avoid the extremes of judgment. We need to be careful not to become harshly judgmental, looking for faults, taking the opportunity to look down on others from our position of self-righteousness. Things are not always as they appear.

Ellen Porter welcomed Mitsuyo, a Japanese exchange student, to come and live with her family. Mitsuyo’s father had written and warned Ellen that she was a bad child.

Ellen looked for signs but saw none at all. Mitsuyo dressed the same each day, was silent while eating at the dinner table and seemed neither happy nor unhappy. Ellen tried to make her feel welcome, but Mitsuyo remained reserved and unresponsive.

Her English was poor at first and trying to communicate was a great effort. Gradually it became easier not to try. For weeks, things went on quietly with Mitsuyo fading more and more into the background.

One afternoon, Ellen saw the china dog missing from her mantle. It was only a cheap souvenir but it annoyed her nonetheless. Then she remembered that Mitsuyo was in the living room for most of the afternoon. And then she remembered her daughter repeatedly searching for one item of clothing after another. She asked Mitsuyo about the dog, but she denied seeing it. But Ellen thought her eyes looked shifty and so when the girls went to school, she searched Mitsuyo’s personal items, everything except her suitcase which she couldn’t open. From that time on, she watched Mitsuyo closely and much to her surprise realized she didn’t like having a foreigner in their house. She told no one except her husband James who said she should be patient.

One day Ellen discovered that some more figurines were missing. She exploded and stormed into Mitsuyo’s room to find Mitsuyo was in the act of placing them in her suitcase. Ellen shoved her out of the way to discover missing blouses, t-shirts, tennis shorts, sweaters, scarves and even the china dog. She took the items in her arms and shouted, “Is this way you thank us for opening our home and lives to you? Is it? You little thief! I’m getting you out of my house.”

She went downstairs to call the District Representative of the Exchange Student program. She realized how much anger had built up inside of her and paused to catch her breath and calm down before she called. In the silence, she heard weeping from Mitsuyo upstairs. She ought to cry, she thought. But then she thought, “What in the world could have possessed this girl to steal this worthless collection of things?” Looking at the pile, there was the little china dog lying on top. Perhaps she should go up and ask her why she had done it. Then she realized that even though Mitsuyo had been living in her home for weeks, she didn’t really know her. When she got to the room, Mitsuyo was lying on the bed crying. She put her arm halfway around Mitsuyo’s shoulder and much to her surprise Mitsuyo threw herself into Ellen’s arms. Ellen asked, “Why did you take these things Mitsuyo? They’re worthless.”

Mitsuyo replied, “I was not to keep them. I was only holding them awhile because they were something of you.”

Ellen said it hit her like a shockwave. She had given her food, shelter, and gifts but she had not given herself. She just wanted some part of us that we had withheld–our love.

Mitsuyo went on, “Always, you made my bed but you didn’t talk to me as you did Jennifer.”

Ellen thought she had always been a foreigner, someone I treated as a guest but never as a member of the family. Now all of Mitsuyo’s hurts and fears poured out. She wanted to fit in at school but others thought she was strange because of the way she dressed and the way she talked. She wanted so much to be one of us–just for a little while–that she had taken our things as a symbol of us and a security blanket for the love she was missing.

Ellen dried Mitsuyo’s tears and said, “I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.” Mitsuyo laid her head against Ellen’s cheek. The rest of Mitsuyo’s stay finally came and went and it was a huge success. Ellen, Mitsuyo, her husband and Jennifer had a wonderful time as a Family.

Before you judge, take the time to know the whole story, and examine you own actions first.