Hypocrites, Part 2

What does it mean to be a hypocrite? Whenever I ask this question to my students, the invariable answer is something like: “Someone who says one thing and does another.” But as I explained in my last post, no one (except Jesus) has a perfect match between words and deeds.
Jesus described a hypocrite: “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them.” (Mt.6:1) Later, Jesus explained that those who make a show of their giving, do it “to be honored by men.” Jesus made it clear that a hypocrite is motivated by the applause of others. (This is one of the reasons why a hypocrite is often a beast in his home -- kids don’t give parents standing ovations!)

On the other hand, the righteous person desires to please a Father “who sees what is done in secret.” He understands that many truly righteous deeds receive little public recognition. As a result, he is willing to put God in charge of his public relations.

I don’t believe my friend who left the ministry (see previous post) was a hypocrite. Though he was imperfectly living the truth, his life goal was not to win the approval of others. Though he needs time to work on his own life, I don’t think he needs a major redirection of his life. I have confidence that the God who began the work in my friend’s life, “will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”