Matthew 23:27-28
“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. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but, on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
In the above passage, Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy. This is because while they appear righteous on the outside, their hearts are full of evil and hardness of heart.
As believers, the passage is a sober warning for all of us. Do we strut around professing to be pious Christians, but our life is filled with cold heartlessness towards others? Do we teach and propound the word of God, but our lives are devoid of even the tiniest shred of compassion and mercy for others? Do we express empathy for the suffering of others, but our hearts celebrate with glee at their plight?
It is important to note that the passage is not encouraging us to judge others. As sinners, we are in no position to do so. It is God who will judge.
Instead, the passage invites us to search our hearts to see whether our faith is real, genuine and authentic.
How then, can we live a life without hypocrisy?
We should firstly examine, reflect and review our hearts and deeds regularly to ascertain whether we are living a life of integrity.
We should seek God’s guidance to empower us to be transparent and sincere when we interact and relate with others. When we say we care, our words should be matched with appropriate action from a caring heart.
And as we acknowledge our weaknesses, frailty and propensity to sin, we should fall on our knees with humility recognising our dependence on God for forgiveness and transformation… so that we may become more Christlike day by day, year by year and for the rest of our life.
And we should immerse ourselves in community life where our life may be accountable to fellow believers who can offer counsel, support and at times godly admonishment.
But all the above will only be possible if we are willing to depend on and trust in God… to learn from Him, to be disciplined by Him and ultimately to be transformed by Him…
Will you…?