NARCISSISTIC POWER GRABBERS VS. SINCERE SERVANTS ~ EXPOSING HYPOCRISY ~ Part 39

“Do as I say, not as I do.” “Don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk.” “Practice what you preach.” Worn-out excuses by those who fail to believe in God are most often focused upon the hypocritical actions of those who profess to be Christians. Are Christians hypocrites? From a cursory glance, it might appear to be true. The issue, however, is a heart issue which cannot be determined by a cursory glance.

 

We all hate hypocrisy. In fact, there is little else we cannot tolerate more than hypocrisy. Facebook is literally filled with memes exposing the hypocrisy of our day from political views to sociological concepts to differing beliefs in religious systems. This should come as no surprise when one considers that Satan is the greatest hypocrite of all. The mask he wears is that of a god who believes he has all authority—thus deserving of all worship. But this wolf in sheep’s clothing does not ‘keep it 100’, as they say. If he did, everyone would be able to easily recognize his schemes, strategies, and evil tricks. His subtlety makes him the father of all hypocrisy. The ultimate narcissist, he hides his true self with the smoke and mirrors façade of persuasive charm and care. In reality, he is self-centered, arrogant in his thinking and behavior, lacks all empathy and consideration for others, and has an excessive need for admiration. Manipulative, selfish, patronizing, and demanding, he serves only one—himself. And those who serve in his kingdom are just like him.

 

I saw this definition of hypocrisy online: Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a lie.

 

The most dangerous result of hypocrisy is when one blindly follows the religious hypocrite all the way to hell. Second to that danger is the loss of trust emanating from those who once believed the deceptive mask of any hypocritical authority was ever altruistic.

 

David had been betrayed many times by those close to him. But he didn’t get bitter or view all people as inherently untrustworthy. The lesson he learned is that sinful people will fail us, but God never will; we can always trust Him. Solomon, his son, even went so far as to say that it is better to trust God than to trust our own minds. (Proverbs 3:5-6) However, without trust, a true relationship is impossible. It is only because Christians know that God will never fail us that we can trust others. The believer’s ultimate security is in God which allows her to trust others and experience the joy relationships bring. Trust and honesty are intimately tied to loving others in sincerity. Christians are to strive to be trustworthy speaking only the truth in love.  

 

All authority is given by God; there is NO AUTHORITY except from God. Those authorities that exist are established by God. All those in authority will be held accountable to God for how they used that authority, whether to accomplish His purpose or their own. Imagine the loss of trust that results when one in a position of authority—whether it be a husband, a pastor, or even government authorities—have different rules for people placed in their care (by God) than they do for themselves. The husband who abuses his authority may demand his wife be a certain size, so he looks good to others while he, himself, is grossly overweight. He may demand she cater to all his fleshly needs and submit to him in all things without question. He rules with an iron hand his children who may one day rebel against all authority. A pastor who abuses his authority may attempt to control every facet of the lives of his flock in order to fleece their earthly goods. I’ve had an up-close, personal look at how the government commits fraud, lies, and steals from others to accomplish their own end in gaining a conviction against those who become their targets. Often, targets are chosen through nefarious schemes devised for the sole purpose of what can be gained from their demise. I would never have believed that before I experienced it myself. These tactics can only be described as diabolical.

Government agencies and political parties, first called to serve the people, have long since disregarded the individual, placing that one on a sacrificial altar for the cause of ‘the greater good’—especially when that ‘greater good’ is lining the pockets of bureaucratic officials and gaining more power and control over the people. When those in authority forget their call as servants of God for the peoples’ greatest good, instead to serve their own greater good, they are rightly viewed as hypocrites. Servant leadership is flipped on its head; chaos and confusion ensue. Having asserted themselves in positions as God’s stewards, all hypocritical leaders will be held accountable for their actions; the damage they do in the lives of those who have willingly placed themselves under their authority cannot be measured and is sometimes irreversible.

 

Religious hypocrisy is a special kind of evil. Seen in the draconian mandates they place upon those entrusted to them by God, religious hypocrisy betrays the trust of one who places his or her own soul on the altar of eternal hope. The heart of this danger is seen in the passion with which Jesus denounces the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23.

 

Matthew 23:3-4—…therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. All Christians should be able to say, “Follow me as I follow Christ,” leaders even more so. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1—“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” Keenly aware of our sin nature, some believers struggle to say that; however, Paul wasn’t shy about calling believers to follow his example. 1 Corinthians 4:16—Therefore, I urge you to imitate me. Philippians 3:17—Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you. 1 Thessalonians 1:6—And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering. Now, in order to know who to follow, you must know Christ. Trusting Him and the authority of His Word, I must learn how He walked and follow in His footsteps. I can confidently say, “Walk as I walk in those points of my life which imitate Christ.” I am not perfect, but He is. Christ, walked in true humility. The scribes and Pharisees walked in pride shrouded by a false humility.

Because the scribes and the Pharisees had seated themselves in the chair of Moses … “therefore”, Jesus said, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds. When the scribes and the Pharisees called the people to follow the Law of Moses, they were to obey. The extra-biblical human tradition these leaders had added to the Word of God, the people had no duty to obey. In other words, the teaching which aligned with the Word of God, the people were to heed and obey. The scribes and Pharisees attached the same weight of authority to their made-up rules as God’s Law.

Draconian leaders, these hypocritical legalists held people to the strictest letter of the law, even heaping up teaching which went beyond Scripture. All the while, they failed to heed their own words or adhere to their own standards. They key to understanding their reproach is to realize that they knew the Law of Moses inside and out. When they failed to do what they preached (as it pertained to the Law of Moses), they sinned with full knowledge that it was wrong.

They bound up heavy burdens upon the shoulders of the people—cumbersome, onerous burdens they were not willing to even lift a finger to bear. Jesus, however, told His disciples that His burden is light, and His yoke is easy. (Matthew 11:30) Jesus did all the heavy lifting. One needs not lift a finger to believe in Him but rest in His finished salvific work at Calvary. Jesus doesn’t add more burdens to His disciples, He is their burden bearer. 1 John 5:3 says: For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

To bind up heavy burdens is to put in chains or to oppress. Christ came to free captives bound in their sin. Voddie Baucham, in Fault Lines, his book about the dangers of Critical Race Theory in the church, talks about CRT being a religion with its own gospel, which is no gospel at all. In reality, CRT is a cult “that comes with its own cosmology (CT/CRT/I); original sin (racism); law (antiracism); gospel (racial reconciliation); martyrs (Saints Trayvon, Mike, George, Breonna, etc.); priests (oppressed minorities); means of atonement (reparations); new birth (wokeness); liturgy (lament); canon (CSJ social science); theologians (DiAngelo, Kendi, Brown, Crenshaw, MacIntosh, etc.); and catechism (“say their names”).” (pg. 67) CRT binds heavy burdens upon people calling them to do something they can never do—repent of being white. Those who support CRT want us to believe that systemic racism is the ultimate sin for which no atonement will ever be enough. But on what or whose authority is this claim based? God’s? He has His own Gospel, and it does not look anything like CRT. What happened to the ultimate sin being unbelief in God?

According to the article on the Got Questions website,  WHAT IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY?, CRT assumes: American government, law, culture, and society are inherently and inescapably racist. Everyone, even those without racist views, perpetuates racism by supporting those structures. The personal perception of the oppressed—their “narrative”—outweighs the actions or intents of others. Oppressed groups will never overcome disadvantages until the racist structures are replaced. Oppressor race or class groups never change out of altruism; they only change for self-benefit. Application of laws and fundamental rights should be different based on the race or class group of the individual(s) involved. All CRT does, in practice, is invert the oppressed and oppressor groups. CRT is incompatible with the Bible.

Individuals can be racist (the sin of partiality), but whole groups of people are not racist just because of who they are. To believe so is patently absurd! That’s just another example of men heaping impossible burdens upon others. We must ask ourselves, what real redemption lies at the end of CRT? How do the leaders of CRT serve the people? Certainly, it can in no way lead to redemption of the soul, so there is no place for it in the church as an add-on to the Gospel.

So, going back to our text, good spiritual leaders follow Christ in that their calling is to serve the people. They help the people carry their burdens. They come alongside to help. Jesus told His disciples that after He died, He would send another Comforter who would abide with them forever. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit. Comforter is parakletos which means to advocate for, called to one’s side, called to one’s aid, a helper, a succorer, an assistant.

Matthew 23:5-7—But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. Jesus, and His disciples are ‘other’ focused. The world of the false religious leader revolves around himself, and he wants the worlds of those who follow him to revolve around him, too. Instead of helping the people he is supposedly called to serve carry their burdens, everything he does is to draw attention to himself. To be noticed by men is the word ‘behold’ or to look closely at something. It specifically relates to important persons who are looked on with admiration.

Phylacteries, common accoutrements of the Jewish men in the Old Testament, were small boxes of leather or parchment in which the Jews placed copies of four Old Testament texts written on vellum. They tied these onto their foreheads and/or forearms with straps to fulfill Exodus 13:9, Exodus 13:16, and Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18. Jesus, Himself, wore tassels on His clothing. The scribes and Pharisees lengthened their tassels. One commentator said this: “God probably intended the Jews to interpret these commands figuratively, but the superficial religious leaders took them literally. The Greek word translated “phylacteries” is totapot, lit. “frontlets”.” Its pagan associations directly relate to what we might call an amulet. Thought to have power, the scribes and Pharisees wore these phylacteries as good luck charms to avert various evils and to drive away demons. Today, people wear medals and crucifixes that have been “blessed by priests'' in much the same way. The scribes and Pharisees wore ‘bigger and better’ phylacteries and tassels than the common people to set themselves apart and be noticed for their ‘piety’. Viewing themselves as super saints, they made sure the people saw them that way by literally wearing their spiritual status on their sleeves, foreheads and robes!

Interestingly, the word broaden can mean to enlarge the heart, to welcome and embrace in love. Paul used this word in 2 Corinthians 6:11 when he said, “Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide.” And in 2 Corinthians 6:13—Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also. Here, what is to be welcomed and embraced in love is the truth that Paul spoke. Paul’s heart was joined to the heart of the people in a mutual love for the truth. The scribes and Pharisees broaden their phylacteries to entice the people to enlarge their hearts towards them as ‘the special religious elite’, all the while they deceive the people leading them astray. The admiration they demanded from the people was superficial. Only love that springs from embracing the truth of the gospel is real love from the heart.

Paul loved the truth, and to those who also loved the truth, his love for them and theirs for him was evident. Notice what the scribes and Pharisees loved. They loved themselves. So, of course, they loved to be noticed, they loved the place of honor at banquets, they loved the chief seats in the synagogues, they loved respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and they loved being called Rabbi by men. The scribes and Pharisees did not follow God from a pure heart; their religion was rooted in a prideful heart.

Matthew 23:8-10—But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. Many Protestants will try to use this passage as a sword against the Roman Catholic Church for calling priests ‘Father’, but they miss the point. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees, as well as the hierarchy within the Roman Catholic Church, is that the hierarchy see themselves as masters over the unlearned, on a higher spiritual level than the common people. They see themselves as the only ones who are capable of handling or interpreting Scripture for the people. In their minds, a great chasm lies between the hierarchy (the clergy) and the laity (the ordinary people). All believers are brothers and sisters in Christ, priests of God and of Christ who will reign with Him. This is NOT to say that we are not to recognize the distinctions between leaders and their roles among His servants in the church. The early church had the Apostles; today elders and deacons continue to exercise divinely recognized authority in the church. We are commanded by God to respect these individuals.

Characteristic of God’s elder or deacon is a humble, faithful servant’s heart. Deacons serve under the leadership of elders, helping them meet the practical needs of the church. The main purpose of elders is to serve the people through prayer and ministering the Word of God. Christ came as the greatest servant of all, thus all believers are called to serve God and others. When He returns, the greatest hope of faithful believers is to hear His words to them individually, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”

Since we are focusing on the hypocrisy of false spiritual leaders in this study, I thought it interesting that one quality of deacons was that they not be double-tongued or two-faced (1 Timothy 3:8). Deacons are to be “sincere”, not hypocritical in speech. In Philippians 1:9-11, Paul prays for the believers in Philippi: And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 2 Peter 3:1-2 uses the same word for sincere: This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Sincere is eilikrines from heile (the sun’s rays) and krino (to judge). It meant found pure, unsullied, tested as genuine, found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun’s light. I LOVE THAT! Notice how sincerity in both passages directly relates to knowledge of the truth of God’s Word.

All God’s people are to be sincere, tested as genuine, found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun’s light. The scribes and Pharisees, and all false spiritual leaders, are hypocrites—they have seated themselves in the place of authority over men’s souls. God has not called them, but they run to grab authority that does not belong to them. The Son has examined them and found them to be insincere hypocrites. He calls each of us to examine the words and the lives of our own spiritual leaders to see if they align with His Word and His requirements for those who watch over His flock.

Matthew 23:11-12—But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. All authority on earth belongs to God—whether in the government, the church, or the home. God’s leaders are to be servants to the people, not lords over them. Someone has said that leadership positions should never be a goal in and of themselves but should be viewed as opportunities to serve others.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:11—“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John saw with his own eyes He whom the Old Testament prophets could only prophesy. John was the messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah. He referred to himself simply as “a voice” crying out in the wilderness calling for repentance because the Kingdom was at hand. Everything he did was for the sole purpose of pointing others to the Messiah. Those who come after the cross are even greater than John in the sense that they now understand the complete picture of Jesus’ atoning work accomplished there. The joys of redemption are fully known and understood post cross. In humility, even the weakest of believers can rejoice in His presence, in His revelation of the Father, and enjoy sweet communion with Him through the Spirit with full assurance that his or her sins are forgiven.

True believers may appear to be hypocrites in the world’s eyes, but never in God’s because God sees the heart of every individual. He sees the desire to live in obedience to Christ. He sees the hatred that one has for her bondage to sin and the flesh, and how she is trusting Christ to deliver her from it. She knows it is only as she submits herself in obedience to the authority of His Word, that she will be able to live freely in all righteousness—her greatest joy in life. She is confident because of His work in sanctifying her that she will hear those words one day: “Well done, My good and faithful servant!”