Hypocrisy emerges when the Word doesn't coordinate with one's life. Some time after conversion Christians may understand a lot of truth about the Bible. But they don't want to lay themselves aside, carry the cross, or be re-shaped by God.
There are two types of Christians like that.
Some worry about being said to have "immature spiritual life" when they don't want to do certain things. However, even if they do it, they feel reluctant since they have their own mindset.
Another type of Christian comforts people with just their words. They only pretend to be "devout" without any actual actions.
So it's not hard to relate to a type of people that Jesus frequently mentioned in His preaching-the Pharisees. At first they carefully followed the law, but when they could no longer do it they only pretended to submit. They thought the outward righteousness was enough. Then, they put on the mask of devotion to hide the secret ongoing sin. Eventually, they got so used to it that they were even more fearless. They turned out to be hypocrites that couldn't be more corrupt.
Most people couldn't do what the law required, so they gave up being lawful and became unfortunate sinners. Pharisees also despised them. Even so, the people still respected them. They believed that they should do the minimum like the Pharisees. This was exactly how the hypocritical actions of the Pharisees developed when Jesus was working on earth.
We see how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in the Bible, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:27-28)
Today we have people like this around us, or rather we're like this sometimes. We "pretend" to be devout in front of other people, but deep down we're filled with filth.
How many times do we talk about holiness and prayer, but we turn around playing with our phones and going to sleep; how many times do we tell other people to read the Bible and spiritual books, pretending we're pursuing Him, but in truth, it's been a long time since we read them.
It's not hard to find that we're like what Lord Jesus said about the Pharisees, "Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long." (Matthew 23:5)
All of this fulfills the vanity inside of man. However, it does not produce the righteousness that God desires, rather it is condemned by Him.
God wants more than us knowing His Word but bringing us into His Word. He desires us to experience the faithfulness of His Word, so that many words are not from our mouth, but through our life. Now the path of enriching our lives is to carry the cross and walk its path; to serve God in humility and people in denying ourselves; to confront ourselves constantly so that our flesh and desire will be refined through the cross and we can participate in the divine nature.
The most real and impressive way to teach others is not through our words, but through living our lives in a real way.
Life is testimony and through details we serve. It takes real commitment to strengthen our life and live out the true wonder of Christ. Many people cling to their old self too much and refuse to be broken by God, so their life is not changed. They are still of flesh. Even though they look changed, a little discouragement will stir up their real life, stinky like dead men, and this will not benefit others.
-Translated by Grace Hubl
