23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. – Matthew 23
One of the most common hurdles for many non-believers is hypocrisy. This afternoon’s devotional reveals that hypocrisy has never left and always will be here. Jesus’ discussion on the subject has me thinking. You know what is one thing I do not see Jesus saying here? I do not see Jesus telling the disciples to ignore the hypocrites. Instead, he encourages them to discern the truth they teach and to not let their hypocrisy keep them from learning and growing.
Jesus is not allowing the leaders to get away with hypocrisy. He spends his last several verses truly bashing them for their actions. This creates quite the conundrum for modern Christians. On one hand we should call hypocrisy for what it is, but also we are should not ignore the spiritual truths that a hypocrite might teach. We rarely do both.
One way this truth applies to our everyday life is in our casual conversations. We have all had those conversations where someone cites the hypocrisy of the church as a reason for not attending. It is easy to sympathize with that plight, but Jesus shows us that we should remind them and remind ourselves that spiritual truth is still truth. We need to become truth discerners and instead of pointing people away from the church when they complain, point them back to Jesus. There are many Christian leaders who fall to sin, but truth never fails.