Beware of Hypocrisy

Today I read Matthew 23, which is one big long warning from the Savior against the Pharisees and the Scribes. It is really unfortunate that as a group, the Pharisees were so corrupt that the Savior felt He had to spend so much time making sure that the people knew not to be like them, because they were the leaders of the people. It is natural that the people would want to be like the Pharisees and the other leaders of the church, for that is who they would perceive as being the most righteous. I think most people are that way, whatever faith you have, you believe that those who are in positions of authority in your faith are the most righteous, the best able to follow the commandments. So it makes sense to me that the Savior would feel so strongly that He needs to condemn the Pharisees and make sure the people know not to emulate them, but it is really sad.

This chapter is one big long comparison of the Pharisees to other things and how they are hypocrites. For example the Savior compares them to a sepulcher that is white and pristine on the outside, but as with all graveyards, on the inside are full of dead bodies. And He gives many other comparisons of a similar nature. I remember when I was in BYU, I took a course on the first half of the Doctrine and Covenants and the professor told us that in the scriptures, God had condemned hypocrisy more than any other sin. He was basing that statement on the sheer number of times it comes up in the scriptures. But it makes sense again to me, because there are few things we as human beings will tolerate less than a hypocrite. Think about it, what is the very first defense children give when confronted by a parent as to why they did something they know they are not supposed to do, "But you do it". Children hear what their parents say but they follow what their parents do. Have you ever heard the phrase I can't hear what you are saying because your actions are too loud, or some variation?

It is a hard thing to avoid hypocrisy, for one thing because no one is perfect. We all know the 10 commandments, and the great commandments we talked about yesterday. We know what we are supposed to be doing and we want our children to be better than we were. So we teach them, and others, the right way to behave. But if we cannot put into practice what we are teaching, is it then wrong to teach our children to be otherwise? A parent who smokes tells their children not to be like them and to not start smoking because it has ruined their life. A trusted friend tells us not to commit adultery because it destroyed his family. Do we take these lessons as one from those who have gone before and have the benefit of experience and wisdom? Or do we look at someone touting ideals they themselves are too weak to put into practice?

I personally think there is nothing with telling those in our care, or who we have their ear, the right way to live and the right way to be. Hypocrisy is more of trying to pass yourself off as doing something a certain way when you are not. For example, the Pharisees were all about making sure everyone around them kept the Sabbath day holy, but they were doing it based on the traditions of their fathers, and not keeping the spirit of the law. They were guilty of telling the people to be like them when they were heading in the very wrong direction. There are many such people in this day and age and it seems every month we have a new person who we find out was living a completely secret life and we condemn them not for making mistakes, but rather for trying to hide them and pass themselves off as something they are not.

We generally will respect someone who gets up and freely admits they made a mistake and are prone to forgive them, most of us. But the sure fire way to get everyone mad is to maintain you did nothing wrong when the evidence is mounted against you. People hate to find out they have been lied to. It is the same now as it was back in the time of Jesus. I think perhaps the saddest part of Jesus' warning against the Pharisees is that it was in regards to all of them. It's very easy to typecast and to generalize and say everyone does that, but that is not true, it is only a select few that do that. However, in the case of the Pharisees, it was the vast majority that were the hypocrites and those whose hearts were actually in the right place were so misled by others that they were duped into thinking they were in the right. At least that is my thought and it saddens me. It is always sad to me when I see good men and women led astray because they want to do what is right but have fallen in with the wrong crowd.

Fortunately, we each of us have the light of Christ in us that helps us decide what is right and what is wrong. We need to make sure we are listening to it, it will tell us when people tell us things, or teach us things, if they are right or wrong. We especially need to teach our children to hearken to it and to make sure they are prepared for the challenges of an ever increasingly evil world. It might be the only defense they have. The scriptures state that if you teach a child the right way to live, they will not depart from it when they are grown. That is a comfort to any parent, but the most surefire way to get them to live a proper life, is to live a good life and pave the way for them to follow. Children want to be like their parents. Give them something good to aspire to and you won't be disappointed in them. Until tomorrow.