Religious Hypocrisy
Religious Hypocrisy
Matthew 6:1-18
As we have studied, the Lord Jesus began His Sermon on the Mountain by describing the essential elements of the Christian character by proclaiming the Beatitudes, and went onto indicate through the use of the metaphors of salt and light the influence for good which Christians will exert in the world if they would emulate and display the Christian character. Having demanded of His followers nothing less than perfection (5:48), Jesus is fully aware of the human heart’s inclination for self-deception, and issues a strong warning: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”(6:1).
In other words, Jesus calls us to “Be perfect,” BUT “Be careful!” and continues in putting His finger on nine ways in which Christians are in danger to become inwardly divided:
1. Doing beautiful religious acts with divided motives – giving to God, but also “to be honored by others” (6:1-4).
2. Praying in two directions – to be heard by God and to be overheard by others (6:5-15).
3. Fasting with divided purpose – doing it before God and hoping that people will give you credit for being self-disciplined (6:16-18).
4. Trying to lay up treasure in two places – upon earth and in heaven (6:19-21).
5. Seeing in two directions – your outlook is divided (6:22-23).
6. Trying to be loyal in two directions – serving God and Mammon (6:24).
7. Being anxious in two directions – toward what you shall eat, drink and be clothed with and also toward the Kingdom of God (6:25-34).
8. Criticizing in two directions – judging your brother without mercy, but giving yourself an easy ride (7:1-5).
9. Giving yourself in two directions – to God and giving the pearl of your personality to the dogs of appetite and the pigs of desires (7:6).
Jesus warns His disciples that these are the nine divisions of a Christian’s heart and character that are pitted against the nine Beatitudes. If a Christian has failed to make progress in becoming like Jesus, these nine causes cover the entire field of failure.
It is important to grasp that even though Jesus uses in 6:1 the same word for “righteousness” (dikaiosune) as He used in 5:6 and 5:20, the emphasis of the word has shifted from the inward righteousness of kindness purity, honesty, and love, to the outward righteousness, displayed through the religious practices of almsgiving, praying, and fasting. In 6:1, Jesus announces the general principle: All acts of outward righteousness must be preserved from the display of showmanship and from the degradation of the chase for human approval. The “actors” receive their reward in full from people witnessing their acts, without any divine reward.
