The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word hypokrites, which means stage actor. An actor is pretending to be someone they’re not, and that’s exactly what a hypocrite does. A hypocrite may act as if they believe something, when actually they don’t. Or they may point out all the mistakes others are making, when secretly they’re doing the exact same things. We might be shocked to think of ourselves as hypocrites, but the reality is that we’ve all probably done something like that. We’ve acted one way in public and another in private. When Jesus spoke about the Pharisees, He claimed: ‘Everything they do is done for people to see’ (Matthew 23:4 NIV). Perhaps the person we are at church is not always the person we are at home. We can end up putting on an act. Maybe our relationship with God has got a bit off track, maybe we’ve found ourselves trapped by temptation, yet at church we sing, pray and act like nothing’s wrong. Jesus also said that ‘they do not practise what they preach’ (Matthew 23:3 NIVUK). We need to make sure that our lifestyle matches what we believe. We need to have integrity. And if we’re pointing out someone else’s faults, we should also be considering our own faults too. The Bible says: ‘How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye’ (Matthew 7:4-5 NIV). Let’s live as Jesus calls us to, with integrity and without judging others.

What Now?

Take some time to honestly consider whether any hypocrisy has crept into your life. If it has, ask God to help you remove it.