Redefining Hypocrisy

The Problem with Hypocrisy is that is has not been clearly defined.

Matthew 7:1-5 – “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Romans 2:3 – “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Titus 1:6 – “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work”

Hypocrisy is a term that is thrown around as if it means nothing. We have forgotten what this word means because it is so overused. We accuse everyone and everything of being hypocritical without first defining the terms of what hypocrisy is. Here we define terms.

Definition: What Hypocrisy is NOT.

Hypocrisy is not having a high standard and failing to live up to it. That is called being a human being and making a mistake.
Hypocrisy is not committing sin.
Hypocrisy is not failing to do something we know we know we should, nor is it doing something we know we should not.
Hypocrisy is not a single failing or even a batch of failings.

Definition: What Hypocrisy IS.

Hypocrisy is preaching a standard that you do not practice. It is telling others how they should live and then consciously choosing to live in the opposite way.

Examples

1 – If a man promotes the standard of abstinence until marriage, yet he fails in this and has sex, he is NOT a hypocrite.

If the same man tells others to be abstinent and yet willing goes out and has sex repeatedly, he IS living a hypocritical life.

2 – If a man promotes sobriety, the avoidance of alcohol and other substances, yet he stumbles and has a drink because he has little self-control, he is NOT a hypocrite.

The man who preaches sobriety and maintains a lifestyle of constant drinking and drunkenness IS a hypocrite.

3 – If a man believes that is is wrong to curse, yet one day he accidentally loses control of his mouth and says a word he considers to be a sin, he is NOT a hypocrite.

The hypocrite tells others not to curse and then goes out and uses whatever language he wants without even trying to restrain his tongue.

The difference is that the man who is not a hypocrite stumbles and makes mistakes, while the man who IS a hypocrite lives a constant, conscious lifestyle of evil that is in direct opposition to the lifestyle he wants others to live.

A person trying to live a “green lifestyle” (heaven help you) but every once in a while drives a gas burning car or needs to take a plane somewhere is not a hypocrite. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez IS a hypocrite because she wants everyone else to live a green, inconvenient life while having the rules not apply to her

The hypocrite dictates rules to others that do not apply to him. He is very aware of what he is doing. He usually attempts to disguise or bury it so that he can live the way he wants to while still attempting to appear as an angel of righteousness.

All men make mistakes and stumble, the hypocrite willingly lives the lifestyle he preaches against.

Some may even unknowingly live in hypocrisy. However, these individuals are hypocritical to a lesser degree because they do not actively choose to do what is wrong (We will examine these in detail later).

This is the difference.
This is true hypocrisy.
To require a person to never commit any of the wrongs he is opposed to is unreasonable and illogical.
We are still men in the flesh.
We will fail, but we will not willingly live in evil.

Hypocrisy is a choice that we will avoid.

Application

Correct your perceptions about what you think hypocrisy is before you begin another day. Do not allow the false notion of what the weak call hypocrisy delude you to reality.

Do not require perfection from people who hold high standards. No man can reach perfection. However, that does not mean that man cannot have very high standards for himself. Those standards will only press him on to more greatness and improvement.

If you are wallowing in hypocrisy, purge it from yourself immediately. There is no need to contribute to the bad name of hypocrisy that Christians have built for themselves already. Eliminate your vices and replace them with strength and honor.

Control your mind.