Hypocrisy in the Church

Hot Topics will be this Thursday night, August 15, at 6:30 in Miller Hall. Topic this month will be Addictions, and our featured speaker will be Jennifer Smith. Feel free to invite others to come with you.

Family Lego night this coming Saturday night, August 17, at 6:00 pm in Miller Hall. Bring your own Legos, your creativity, and an excitement to have a great time.

Shine: Reimagine Charity event. This is an event hosted in part by Shine ABQ, who we and Monterey Baptist Church are partnering with to share the love of Christ at Manzano High School. We had kind of an organizational meeting about Shine on Wednesday this week, so more information on Shine will be coming soon. Reimagine Charity is also sponsored by the City of Albuquerque’s One Albuquerque program. It will be held on Friday, August 23, from 9am to noon at Sid Cutter’s Pilots’ Pavilion at Balloon Fiesta Park. Cost is $20 payable directly to them, and that cost includes lunch, but you must purchase your ticket by August 16, as tickets will not be available at the door. Visit shineabq.org/reimaginecharity to find out more or to register.

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CareNet’s Annual Walk for Life is going to be held on August 24. See the Page for more information.

Shine: Reimagine Charity event. shineabq.org/reimaginecharity

Opening

We’re in a middle of a series through the book of Galatians that we’re calling “Dear Church.” We’re going verse-by-verse through this epistle of the Apostle Paul to the churches in the region of Galatia, an epistle which many have referred to as one of Paul’s greatest works.

Paul’s primary focus in this letter is to deal with these legalists, the Judaizers, who claimed that people should have to follow the whole Jewish law to be saved. Last week, we considered Paul’s mission as God’s appointed Apostle to the Gentiles, and part of that mission is to preserve the Gospel of grace… in his case against the threat of legalism: that salvation is found in Jesus + something else, instead of just in Jesus alone. Paul had already dealt with this question of salvation by grace alone or by works.

In this week’s passage, Paul will continue his defense of the Gospel of grace, in this case from a surprising source—his brother and Christ and fellow Apostle, Peter:

Galatians 2:11–14 CSB

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Pray

gal 2:11-14

I had originally planned on going through verse 21 today, but with as full as this service has been this morning, I decided after starting to write that I would not do the text justice by rushing through it. So we will look at 15-21 next week.

One thing to address right off is the name “Cephas.”

So here we have a little conflict between some of those who were pillars in the early church. This happened after the visit we talked about last week, perhaps even after Paul’s first missionary journey. This could have even been the situation that precipitated the Jerusalem Council of 49 AD that we see in Acts 15.

Really quickly: the reason Paul calls Peter “Cephas” is that “Cephas” (or more accurately, ke-PHAS), is the Aramaic for the Greek petros, or Peter. Both mean stone or rock. Aramaic was the “common language” of Palestine in the early NT period.

The church at Syrian Antioch was made up primarily of Gentile believers. When Peter came to Antioch to visit, he spent time with these brothers in Christ, even going so far as to eat with them.

For a Hebrew man, this was a big deal, because under the Hebrew Law, just eating with a Gentile was considered by some enough to make you unclean. The point of those laws was to keep the Jews as a separate and distinct people. In their culture, sitting and having a meal together was more than just spending some social time together: it was a symbol of your acceptance of them and your approval of them. That didn’t fit in the Hebrew mindset of how they thought they should relate to Gentiles.

Verse 12 tells us that when the “certain men from James” came to Antioch, Paul records that Peter “withdrew and separated himself,” from them. And in so doing, he tweaked the rest of the Jewish believers, even down to Barnabas (v. 13).

The problem is that Peter knew better! For us to fully understand just how well Peter knew this better, we need to look at and 11.

In , there is recorded the narrative of a godly Gentile, a centurion named Cornelius. An angel appeared to him and told him to send for Peter, which he does, sending three men off to find Peter and bring him back to see Cornelius. Peter has a vision while the men are traveling to retrieve him.

Acts 10:9–15 CSB

9 The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. 10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. 12 In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. 13 A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 “No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.” 15 Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.”

So Peter is shown a vision

Acts 10:9–16 CSB

So Peter is shown a vision three times: all the animals of the earth were lowered on something like a sheet, and he is told to go and kill whatever he would like for food. The problem is that a major part of the Law was what you could and couldn’t eat, just like who you could and couldn’t hang out with. So Peter says, “no way… not gonna do it.” God tells Peter, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.”

So Peter is shown a vision

Right after this vision is when the men from Cornelius show up:

Acts 10:17–29 CSB

17 While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there. 19 While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.” 21 Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?” 22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.” 23 Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. 24 The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I myself am also a man.” 27 While talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering of people. 28 Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean. 29 That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me?”

Acts 10:17-

Peter shows that he was paying attention to his vision and then what happened immediately afterwards. He goes to see Cornelius, and does so specifically because of the vision that he has had from God: even going so far as to remind Cornelius that his being there is forbidden under the Jewish law, but that God has revealed that he is not to call any person impure or unclean. (is there someone that you wouldn’t share the Gospel with?)

Cornelius tells Peter about his own angelic vision, and that he has gathered his family so that they could all hear what Peter has to say.

Acts 10:34–42 CSB

34 Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him. 39 We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree. 40 God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.

acts 10:34-

So Peter preaches the Gospel clearly to Cornelius and his family, and with amazing result:

Acts 10:44–48 CSB

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter responded, 47 “Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

These Gentiles: a Roman centurion and his family, hear the message of the Gospel, believe it, are saved, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, just like the Jewish believers.

And as soon as people hear about these Gentiles coming to faith, the problem begins—the same problem that Paul is dealing with in Jerusalem, and in Antioch, and in Galatia—people who think that the law has to be followed in order to be saved.

Acts 11:1–3 CSB

1 The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, 3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

acts 11:

Notice what they were called here: “the circumcision party.” After they hear his whole story, though, they respond appropriately:

Acts 11:18 CSB

18 When they heard this they became silent. And they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles.”

Peter was one of the earliest apostles to preach to Gentiles, and he saw them radically saved just as the Jews had been. And now those who had argued with him glorified God because He had saved Gentiles.

So Peter knew better. He knew that the Gospel of God’s grace was for the Gentiles as well. He knew what God had done—that the Jews and the Gentiles had become one in Christ. But sometimes he still didn’t act like it.

So what was the big deal with Peter withdrawing?

When I lived in Silver City, probably about 8th grade, a kid about two years younger than me moved in on our block. His name was Danny. To be honest, Danny and I didn’t have a whole lot in common. But my yard was the place where we would play football and wiffle ball (it was kind of a square yard, so it made for a good sports field). Danny was small (makes sense, given that he was a 6th grader), and not particularly talented. He wasn’t cool like me (yeah, right).

Anyway, he had one thing really going for him: he had a game room at his house. Yep. He had a pinball machine, a pool table, ping-pong, and an actual arcade game… I think it was Space Invaders. So when I wanted something to do that I didn’t have, I’d go hang out at Danny’s house. But (and I regret to say it), if another offer came up, or if someone I thought was more mature or more important asked why I was with a 6th grader, I’d throw him right under the bus. He was good to hang out with as long as no one else knew.

This is the problem with what happened with Peter. The Gentile believers were “good enough” as long as there were no other Jewish believers from Jerusalem around. It sent a message: that Peter saw the Jewish Christians as better than the Gentile Christians.

It sent a message: that Peter saw the Jewish Christians as better than the Gentile Christians.

This made Peter a hypocrite, and he was getting other Hebrew believers to follow him into the pool of hypocrisy.

What is a hypocrite? Literally, a hypocrite is an actor, one who plays a part: a pretender. The Greek term was originally a theatrical term, used because often plays would be conducted by a single actor, who would just change masks to be all of the different parts of a play. It later went on to become someone who pretended to be something that they were not. And now it means that someone acts in ways contrary to their stated beliefs or convictions.

This is what Peter was doing. He was playing a part, pretending to be something that he was not, acting in ways contrary to his stated beliefs. Notice who he was afraid of:

Galatians 2:12 CSB

12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party.

The circumcision party! He had stood up to them once, and God had been glorified. Now, he was backing away from fellow brothers in Jesus.

And Paul calls him out:

galatians 2;

Galatians 2:14 CSB

14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Paul sees that Peter and several others are going astray from “the truth of the gospel,” and he holds an intervention: in front of everyone, he accuses Peter of living just like a Gentile, and then asks how he can say that Gentiles have to live like Jews since he himself is a Jew who sometimes lives like a Gentile.

Last week, we saw that legalism is doing a “right” action without a right belief. It’s thinking that you can somehow earn more favor from God by doing all the right stuff. Hypocrisy is the other side of the same coin: it’s right belief, but without right action. We SAY that we believe something, when in fact our lives don’t bear it out.

So what was the big deal with Peter withdrawing?

It sent a message: the Jewish Christians were better than the Gentile Christians. Illustrate from my own experience? Did I ever have a friend who was fair weather? Was I ever that friend? Did I ever have friends who I didn’t really like, but who gave me some benefit, or who I wanted to impress? Maybe Danny in Silver City?

Why did Peter do this?

Fear, according to verse 12. He didn’t want those Judaizers to see him hanging out with the Gentiles. Unfortunately, sometimes people follow our lead when we are hypocrites, and they become hypocrites themselves.

Now, Jesus’ strongest words were for those who were religious leaders—the ones who should have known better. In Jesus’ “woes” to the scribes and Pharisees, He calls them hypocrites 6 times.

Matthew 23:13 CSB

13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.

Matthew 23:15 CSB

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!

Matthew 23:1

Matthew 23:23–24 CSB

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!

matthew 23:23-24

Matthew 23:25–26 CSB

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

Matthew 23:25-

Matthew 23:27–28 CSB

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

matt 23:27-

Matthew 23:29–30 CSB

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’

Matthew

Being a hypocrite is obviously a big problem. Is it any surprise that one of the biggest arguments levied against the church today is that it’s full of hypocrites: that like the Pharisees, church members don’t live out their faith, don’t practice what they preach, don’t love the way they’ve been loved, don’t serve others the way Jesus served? And we get defensive, because that’s not always true… right?

Why do we act like hypocrites? How do I act like a hypocrite sometimes?

And here’s where we get really real. I struggled a lot with this message, because I am a recovering hypocrite. Sometimes, I’m not even sure I’m recovering! The simple fact is that I don’t always live out what I believe. And part of the crazy tension in being a pastor and getting up here every week to preach is that sometimes I have to bring truth from God’s Word that I haven’t fully assimilated into my life, or that I haven’t fully grasped myself. But I preach God’s Word not because I’m an authority on how to live it out, but because it’s true. I don’t have it all together. I’m a recovering hypocrite. Anyone else here in that same boat?

So the question is this: Why do we act like hypocrites?

Fear.

Like Peter, we sometimes act in hypocritical ways because we’re afraid. We think that if we actually take a stand on what we believe in, then people won’t like us, or there will be some other form of reprisal.

Proverbs 29:25 CSB

25 The fear of mankind is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected.

The problem with this is that it’s a trap. It’s like paying a blackmailer in the movies. Did you ever notice that it never goes well? It’s never a one and done deal. The blackmailer always wants more, because they’ve shown that they have power, and you have to be afraid.

But being willing to

Acts 4:19–20 CSB

19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

acts 4:

People-pleasing.

This is something like fear, only it’s not that there will be a directly negative result, but just a less positive one. We all want to be liked, and sometimes we might want people to like us so much that we play both sides of the line. To one, we hold up a particular standard. To another, the opposite standard. The problem is that we can’t have it both ways. Earlier in this letter to Galatia, Paul wrote this:

Galatians 1:10 CSB

10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

People-pleasing.

We can’t strive to please people first and serve Christ. We can’t.

Manipulation.

The last thing in my list is more sinister than people pleasing, yet it’s related. Sometimes we fall into hypocrisy in order to manipulate others, to get them into our camp, to do what we want them to do, or think the way we want them to think. This is more about control than fear. We’re still serving people, but we’re serving ourselves. Solomon speaks about this kind of person in :

Proverbs 6:12–14 CSB

Pride.

Proverbs 6:12–15 CSB

12 A worthless person, a wicked man goes around speaking dishonestly, 13 winking his eyes, signaling with his feet, and gesturing with his fingers. 14 He always plots evil with perversity in his heart; he stirs up trouble. 15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly; he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.

The Point: Hypocrisy should have no place in the life of the church.

Proverbs 6:12–14 CSB

Sometimes we are hypocrites because we honestly believe that somehow, the things that we believe don’t actually apply to us. We have some sort of spiritual loophole that allows us

None of these are good. But don’t we do them?

The Point: Hypocrisy should have no place in the life of the church.

Proverbs 6:16–19 CSB

16 The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: 17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, 19 a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.

We are commanded to love because we have been loved, and specifically that we should love one another so that the world will know that we belong to Jesus. Our love for one another should be real, not fake. We should honestly seek the good of the other person before ourselves, and not just to score points or look good:

The Point: Hypocrisy should have no place in the life of the church.

Romans 12:9 CSB

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

We don’t need to be afraid. Paul said to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:7 CSB

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

We don’t need to be afraid.

We need to decide that we are going to follow God before men.

eph 4:

2 tim

Acts 4:19–20 CSB

We need to be truthful, not manipulative.

We need to be truthful.

We need to be truthful

Ephesians 4:25 CSB

25 Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

Closing

We must stand firm in the Lord, not in our abilities.

Psalm 62:5–8 CSB

5 Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge. Selah

Closing

Romans 12:9 CSB

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

A common condemnation against Christians is that we are hypocrites. Well, we should be recovering hypocrites at the very least in the power of God’s Spirit working in us to make us more like Jesus. How have you been hypocritical in your faith, or in how you present yourself to the world? Repent of that hypocrisy.

And church, let us stand firm in the Gospel, committed to displaying the love of Christ through our adherence to the truth, so that those who would levy a claim against us would be convicted, even ashamed:

1 Peter 2:12 CSB

12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.

Those who are lost:

Present the Gospel, calling them to become recovering hypocrites instead of just hypocrites.

Pray

Invite to the parlor.

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