Switched Keys

I really hate it when people are always complaining. They complain about the price of gas the weather their jobs and even their wives or husbands. People need to quit complaining all the time. If you caught that then you know and see the humor in hypocrisy.

Jesus also talked about hypocrites in the first century but when he talked about hypocrites hypocrisy had a purer definition. In our day a hypocrite is someone who says or instructs others not to do something and then does that very thing himself like complaining about complainers. That bit of irony is really just a connotation of the word. Jesus may be credited as adding that connotation when he pointed out that the Pharisees don't keep the very laws they want everyone else to. In the first century though when Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees the word may have had at its basic meaning to put on a show or to show-off.

There really isn't that much difference between many of our church leaders and the Pharisees of 33 A.D. Although the Pharisees didn't accept Jesus theologically they were in step with many of the teachings of Jesus such as the resurrection. But at the core of their existence was their own image. They want to be seen and acknowledged.

They are focused on putting on a religious show while in other areas of their life they don't do the very things that they praise each other for doing. They righteously attend church tithe read their religious books and listen to Christian music but in a different setting it's a different story. They creatively divert resources at work for their own purposes they deceive in the name of public relations and take advantage of the people that work for them. They talk about good morals but aren't upright in their dealings with others.

Jesus summed up the moral laws in two commandments; to love God and to love others. That's where their motivation should have been. That's one of His teachings. However Jesus may have been looking at a different type of motivation when He talked to the leaders of His day. The Pharisees failed to meet Jesus' standard because they wanted the praise of men rather than the praise of God.