“Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:28, NLT)
Titian, the Venetian painter from the 16th century, was renowned the world over for his beautiful Biblical scenes, some found in places of worship in Italy. He painted scenes from Jesus’ life including His baptism, time with Mary Magdalene, and the betrayal of Judas. Yet, Titian also painted images of flagrant debauchery in other works. He painted naked people caught up in orgies, people getting drunk, and scenes of self-indulgence. How could he be so passionate about portraying Jesus one day and hedonistic debauchery the next? Durant spoke that Titian had no problem painting scenes of Jesus’ life or worldly sin; it didn’t matter to him. Titian had “no apparent loss to his peace of mind” whether painting about evil or holiness.
You might wonder how Titian could be so enthused about painting scenes from a sinful life and the next day painting about Jesus’ life. It seems very hypocritical, doesn’t it? And yet there are many religious-seeming people who have the same type of disconnect in their day-to-day living. They seem faithful in one moment but are unholy the next.
Peter the Great of Russia sang in his church choir, regularly partook of communion, and loved to discuss theological issues. He even fined people from falling asleep or talking during Mass! And yet, Peter the Great was known to leave worship and a few hours later meet up with prostitutes and have group sex!
A businessman in a western city owns six adult bookstores, an X-rated theater, and a Condoms Plus store. Yet almost every Sunday he attends his local church and contributes generously.
A man in St. Louis is well-known for his support of the poor. He regularly works at a soup kitchen and frequently is filmed doing mission work in the city. He is a strong advocate for basic human rights and desires to leave behind a legacy of generous giving. This same man also has been involved in several accidents while driving drunk. He often is videotaped on drunken rampages where he swears up a storm. Then, on many a Sunday, he attends his local parish, where he is warmly greeted and well-respected.
Then again, there is the Roman Catholic President of the United States, Joe Biden. He too espouses his faith. He talks about growing up as a Christian. Still, he turns right around and advocates overwhelmingly for abortions in the United States. He speaks out against traditional marriage. On several occasions, his decisions and measures have been proven by multiple courts and the Supreme Court to be against the law and a travesty to basic human rights. Videos of his own words and actions have proven time and time again of his lies and manipulations of the truth. Within hours of advocating for blatantly anti-Christian laws, he ambles into his local church expecting to be seen as a deeply religious individual.
Throughout history, there has been a disconnect between the religious nature of people and their actions or words. Some people can act religious one minute and be completely sinful a few moments later! You might think this is a more modern form of sinfulness. Hardly! Jesus even spoke about this disconnect from His own experience. In the scripture for today, Jesus was critical of the most religious people of His day, the scribes and Pharisees. These two groups of religious leaders were known publicly to be some of the most theologically advanced people of their day. They were revered in society for being uber-faithful. But Jesus saw the smokescreen of their faith. These people acted religious but were hypocrites in real life. As Jesus said in Matthew 23:28, “Outwardly they appeared religious, but inwardly their hearts were filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Even Biblical heroes were at times challenged for their hypocrisy. King David, who was the apple of God’s eye, hid his sins of adultery and murder. The prophet Balaam was called out by God for his manipulation of a prophecy to save face. Herod, the king of the Jews when Jesus was born, attempted to murder Jesus in order to secure his throne, killing hundreds of babies in his attempt to stop the Messiah. Peter, the strong “rock” of faith among the disciples, denied Jesus three times. While Judas ate the Last Supper with Jesus, he was already plotting to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver!
Be careful you don’t follow down the same path as other religious figures from history who made shambles of their faith by being hypocritical in their actions or words.
Are there any disconnects between your faith and your actions or words? Do you get this nagging guilt from God that some of your thoughts do not conform to the truth of Christ? Do you hide a part of your life that is a mockery of true faith?
Before Easter comes this year, wouldn’t it be wise to heed Jesus’ words from Matthew and rid your life of any hypocrisy, whether small or large?
You might wonder how Titian could be so enthused about painting scenes from a sinful life and the next day painting about Jesus’ life. It seems very hypocritical, doesn’t it? And yet there are many religious-seeming people who have the same type of disconnect in their day-to-day living. They seem faithful in one moment but are unholy the next.
Peter the Great of Russia sang in his church choir, regularly partook of communion, and loved to discuss theological issues. He even fined people from falling asleep or talking during Mass! And yet, Peter the Great was known to leave worship and a few hours later meet up with prostitutes and have group sex!
A businessman in a western city owns six adult bookstores, an X-rated theater, and a Condoms Plus store. Yet almost every Sunday he attends his local church and contributes generously.
A man in St. Louis is well-known for his support of the poor. He regularly works at a soup kitchen and frequently is filmed doing mission work in the city. He is a strong advocate for basic human rights and desires to leave behind a legacy of generous giving. This same man also has been involved in several accidents while driving drunk. He often is videotaped on drunken rampages where he swears up a storm. Then, on many a Sunday, he attends his local parish, where he is warmly greeted and well-respected.
Then again, there is the Roman Catholic President of the United States, Joe Biden. He too espouses his faith. He talks about growing up as a Christian. Still, he turns right around and advocates overwhelmingly for abortions in the United States. He speaks out against traditional marriage. On several occasions, his decisions and measures have been proven by multiple courts and the Supreme Court to be against the law and a travesty to basic human rights. Videos of his own words and actions have proven time and time again of his lies and manipulations of the truth. Within hours of advocating for blatantly anti-Christian laws, he ambles into his local church expecting to be seen as a deeply religious individual.
Throughout history, there has been a disconnect between the religious nature of people and their actions or words. Some people can act religious one minute and be completely sinful a few moments later! You might think this is a more modern form of sinfulness. Hardly! Jesus even spoke about this disconnect from His own experience. In the scripture for today, Jesus was critical of the most religious people of His day, the scribes and Pharisees. These two groups of religious leaders were known publicly to be some of the most theologically advanced people of their day. They were revered in society for being uber-faithful. But Jesus saw the smokescreen of their faith. These people acted religious but were hypocrites in real life. As Jesus said in Matthew 23:28, “Outwardly they appeared religious, but inwardly their hearts were filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Even Biblical heroes were at times challenged for their hypocrisy. King David, who was the apple of God’s eye, hid his sins of adultery and murder. The prophet Balaam was called out by God for his manipulation of a prophecy to save face. Herod, the king of the Jews when Jesus was born, attempted to murder Jesus in order to secure his throne, killing hundreds of babies in his attempt to stop the Messiah. Peter, the strong “rock” of faith among the disciples, denied Jesus three times. While Judas ate the Last Supper with Jesus, he was already plotting to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver!
Be careful you don’t follow down the same path as other religious figures from history who made shambles of their faith by being hypocritical in their actions or words.
Are there any disconnects between your faith and your actions or words? Do you get this nagging guilt from God that some of your thoughts do not conform to the truth of Christ? Do you hide a part of your life that is a mockery of true faith?
Before Easter comes this year, wouldn’t it be wise to heed Jesus’ words from Matthew and rid your life of any hypocrisy, whether small or large?