We all enjoy a great movie with a great story line and great actors. Some actors are so good at their role that when we meet them in real life, we forget that in the movie they were just acting out a role and character. We somehow imagine that they have the same character and abilities in life.

A Hypocrite is an actor, a pretender, someone who pretends to be something that they are not. This is someone whose walk does not align to their talk.

Jesus was very harsh with the religious leaders of his day because they were hypocrites pretending to be holy but as Jesus put it, inside they were full of dead men’s bones.

Because of their hypocrisy, they set such high standards that oppressed the people, standards they themselves were not fulfilling and yet, they demanded the people to do so.

They demanded respect and special attention demanding to be honored and praised in public for things they really had not done. They were big on titles and public appearances concerned more about image and what people thought about them than pleasing God.

They demanded to be served and thus they themselves, though called to serve others, did not do it. Jesus told the people to listen to them when they teach the word of God, but not to follow their example.

It is easy to point a finger at another calling them a hypocrite, but, we each need to look inward and examine ourselves. Am I honest with God and with myself, or am I an actor every Sunday morning when I am with other believers acting out what I don’t live out the rest of the week?

May we not be modern day Pharisees and teachers of the law, having a form of godliness, whitewashed tombs, but full of dead men’s bones on the outside. May we practise what we preach.

Are you more concerned with appearances and what others will think more than pleasing God?

What are some areas of your life where you act, you are one thing in public and another in private?

What will you do concerning this area of your life?