Hypocrites

The word hypocrite comes from the Greek term for an actor one who wore a mask and played a part and the meaning has not changed: a hypocrite pretends to be something he is not. Today’s hypocrite hides behind moral postures, claiming to champion equality while believing himself superior, preaching charity with other people’s money, professing Christianity only when it is socially convenient. Our Lord compared such men to “whited sepulchres” beautiful outside, full of rot within (Matt. 23:27–28). Churches, politics, and public life are filled with such actors because hypocrisy attracts its own kind: hypocrites in the pew empower hypocrites in the pulpit, and hypocritical voters elect hypocritical leaders. The cure begins with ourselves: refusing false fronts, living honestly before God, and becoming, in James’s words, “full of mercy and good fruits… without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).