Hypocrisy

One

The Sin of Hypocrisy

One of Christ’s most brutal criticisms is directed at the sin of hypocrisy.

When I lead pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I take the group to the Mt. of Olives overlooking the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and there I go over everything Jesus did and taught during Holy Week, the week leading up to the Crucifixion. It was during that week that Jesus went up on the Temple Mount and confronted the Pharisees. Seven times he said to them,  “Woe to you! Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites…You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”

When I hit this scene and this seven-fold indictment, I’ve noticed that everyone seems to squirm a little. I think it’s because at some level we all feel like we are hypocrites. 

So what is the sin of hypocrisy, that enrages Christ so dramatically? 

Two

It doesn’t mean holding principles you don’t live up to

Now Christ says that the hypocritical Pharisees don’t, “practice what they preach.” But, by that standard, of course, we’re all hypocrites. Because every Christian is obliged to preach the fullness of Christ’s truth and none of us live up to it. 

A hypocrite isn’t someone who hasn’t succeeded at Christian perfection, it’s someone who isn’t even trying and someone who, in the meantime, is worried about appearing to be better than he is. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be a good Christian but has no intention of becoming the real thing.

A hypocrite is just a pretender, a deceiver. 

Three

Trying to be Consistent

If you don’t want to be a hypocrite, then you have to keep trying to be more consistent than you’ve been up to now.

Inconsistency is the great human vice. In logic, inconsistency takes the form of contradiction. In morals, inconsistency takes the form of hypocrisy.

For instance, a hypocrite is inconsistent when it comes to what he says and what he does. He talks about the importance of charity and love, and then he gossips and complains and demands he get his own way all the time. He talks as though God is the most important thing and heaven is the most important goal, and then he spends no time thinking about either one.

But worst of all, a hypocrite is inconsistent in the way he treats himself and the way he deals with other people. He ties up large bundles and puts them on other people’s shoulders. He constantly laments the speck in his brother’s eye and doesn’t worry about the log in his own. He strains out the gnat, when it comes to other people’s behaviors, and swallows a camel when it comes to what he does.

So here’s the first step to avoiding hypocrisy: don’t act outraged and shocked when other people do what you know you are guilty of doing yourself. Don’t be surprised that other people are bad Christians or bad Catholics when you’re such a bad Christian and a bad Catholic. Don’t act utterly scandalized when the clergy are poor spiritual leaders of the Church when you’re such a poor spiritual leader of your household. Don’t joke contemptuously about the immoral behavior of non-Christians when you, a Christian, with the knowledge and the grace to do better, have acted so shamefully so often.

Yes, we’re always trying to live as better Catholics, and sometimes we succeed. But if we’re not hypocrites, our past failures will serve as a warning against arrogance towards anyone around us. 

Four

You might feel like a hypocrite but you are not.

As I said before, a hypocrite is an actor, someone who wants to be seen as a good Christian but refuses to do anything to actually get on the road to deeper conversion and holiness. 

That is not you. You are weak, like me. We sin, but we are not hypocrites. And here is the difference. I know you want to change. I know you want to be all that God wants you to be. You have the right desire.

So let me encourage you. You only have to do a few things and persevere in them and the Mercy of God will carry you the rest of the way and you can become a saint and a great saint.

First of all, daily meditation on the Word of God, like we are doing now in the Rosary. Always make sure we end our meditation with a resolution – some concrete action flowing from our meditation that we can practice today. This ensures we are always working to overcome our vices with virtue.

Are you practicing a daily resolution?

Secondly, a daily examination of conscience. It only takes a few minutes to examine our last 24 hours to see what I have done wrong or failed to do right. 

Are you examining your life every day?

If you practice daily meditation, a resolution, and examination of conscience – I guarantee you, that you will make progress from vice to virtue and you will not be a hypocrite!

Five

Confession – the ultimate antidote to hypocrisy

The hypocrite is someone who doesn’t worry about his own sins, but is hyper-critical about the sins of other people. The hypocrite is someone who tries to inflate his public image regardless of what’s going on in his private spiritual and moral life.

So to save us from hypocrisy, the good Lord gave us the Sacrament of Confession.

A sacrament where we go to clearly state our own sins, not other peoples’. A sacrament where we go to just highlight our bad parts, and tell them to another human being – a human being to whom we humble, not exalt ourselves. A sacrament where we face the ugly truth about ourselves, and ask for healing and forgiveness.

If you’re worried about being a hypocrite, then go to confession, and be as honest as you possibly can. And then be at peace – you still have a lot of sins to work on, but Christ won’t condemn you as a hypocrite.