Do You Want To Be Called A Hypocrite?

My neighborhood adjoins Corps of Engineer property that is heavily wooded and surrounds a lake. As a result, we have a too large deer population that lives off the perfectly manicured landscapes of the homeowners. Deer are destructive, but there is little homeowners can do except petition the Corps to thin the population. To deter and dissuade the deer from spending too much time in our yard, my husband enjoys the sport of stinging their rumps with a pellet gun, sending them scattering away.

A few summers ago, one such incident did not end well for the deer. We will always choose to believe the sting of the pellet caused a heart attack. That’s our story and we are sticking with it.

After a friend came to help my husband dress the deer out, they cleaned up by dumping the remains in a trash bag and placing it in our trash can that was due to be picked up in two days. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Unfortunately, this coincided with a record setting heat wave, even for August, and an issue with our trash pick-up service. Our trash did not get picked up in two days. It sat at the end of our driveway, in the sweltering heat, for a week.

Did I mention that we had brand new next-door neighbors? Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood like your very own CSI episode happening at the top of your driveway!

From a distance, the trashcan looked fine. Exactly like you’d expect a trashcan to look. But inside, there was some serious rot going on. And it stunk. BAD.

There are some people in the Bible called Pharisees who were teachers of the law. People who proclaimed to be men of faith but in reality were just like my trash can – looking good on the outside but full of rot on the inside. Jesus had some very strong words for them, and for us.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!

• Everything you do is for men to see.
  
• You burden the people with a long list of things they must do to earn their righteousness.
• You shut the gate of heaven in the face of the people, you won’t let them enter.
• You make a show of giving but neglect mercy, justice, and faithfulness.
• You clean the outside of the cup and neglect to clean the inside that is full of greed and self-indulgence.
• You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but are full of dead men’s bones on the inside. (Matthew 23)
  

To the disciples, Jesus’ words about the thoughts, attitudes, and actions to be on guard against become the back drop for his words about the vine, branches, cutting, and pruning that follow just a day, or maybe even hours later. To the Pharisees, Jesus is confronting them with their hypocrisy. You can imagine the Pharisees didn’t take too kindly to being called a hypocrite to their faces in front of the masses.

Hypocrisy is looking good on the outside but being full of rot on the inside. #flourish Click To Tweet

None of us do, do we? Who likes to be called out for actions that don’t match our words? Who wants to be confronted with the deadwood? But that is exactly what Jesus tells the disciples God wants to do in their lives when he says “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit” (Jn 15:2).

In the New Testament letters, we have evidence that the disciples, Paul in particular, learned about cutting out the deadwood because we have repeated references to our old nature, our new nature, things we must put off and other things we must put on if we are to flourish into the image of Christ.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul gives us a laundry list of inside rot we must guard against and let God cut out.

• Sexual immorality
• Impurity
• Lust
• Evil desires
• Greed
• Anger
• Rage
• Malice
• Slander
• Filthy Language

Paul found it so important to address our inside rot that he adds to this list in his letters to both the Ephesians and Galatians.

• Idolatry and witchcraft
• Hatred
• Discord
• Jealousy
• Selfish ambition
• Dissension and factions
• Envy
• Drunkenness

As extensive as these lists are, they are far from exhaustive. We can easily add shame, guilt, fear, gossip, and pride. For me, the Lord identified people-pleasing and lack of confidence as deadwood. Our deadwood will be unique to us. It is so easy to skim past this because we don’t want to know where we fall short. We certainly do not want to hear Jesus call us a hypocrite. But we need to park here for a bit because this old, ugly, deadwood is what keeps us from flourishing. In fact, stop reading for a minute and go back to that list. Maybe even make a check mark next to anything you know is a problem for you without even asking God about it.

Jesus knew his disciples well. He knew Peter was impetuous, rash, and spoke before thinking. He knew John and James –the sons of Thunder – had tempers. He knew about their pride and selfishness. Later, with Paul, Jesus knew about his hard-heartedness. He knew about the discrimination and murderous fear Paul felt toward the new Christians. He knew what was in their hearts and what is in our hearts.

Jesus teaches us that where our heart is, so is our treasure (Mat 6:21). He tells us that our mouth speaks out of the overflow of our hearts. Storing up evil thoughts, immorality, anger, greed, or any of the old-self characteristics, pours out the same (Mat 12:34). Our deadwood indicates the state of our heart. If our heart is diseased and full of deadwood, then the fruit we bear, if any, will be diseased and not good for anything.

Letting the Master Gardener do his thing will rid us of our deadwood. Say no to hypocrisy. #flouish Click To Tweet

The good news is we are not destined to stay full of deadwood. That inside rot will be cut out when we give ourselves over to the work of the Master Gardener.

Before closing the book on this, spend time with the Lord asking him to reveal areas of deadwood in your life. Start with the lists in Colossians 3, Ephesians 4 and 5, and Galatians 5. This is where we begin to flourish.

Coming up:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24).