There are Fewer Hypocrites Than We’d Like to Think.

Our Inner Cancel Culture

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Jesus directed the harsh accusation of hypocrisy to his audience several times throughout his ministry. The one who judges without first judging himself is a hypocrite (Matt. 7:1, 5). They go alongside the ones who honor God with their lips, but their heart is far from him (Matt. 15:7-9). These are the folk that love to stand and pray in public so that they can be seen by others (Matt 6:5), and while they’re at it, they neglect the weightier matters of the law (Matt. 23:23). All throughout Scripture, you’ll find picture after picture of what it means to be a hypocrite. The groups of people in the Bible who are most commonly associated with hypocrisy are the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus summarizes their condition in Matthew 23:27-28. Jesus states, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matt. 23:27-28 NKJV).” Jesus diagnoses the scribes and Pharisees with an issue of the heart. They were able to put on a pious exterior, but their hearts were unclean. Unfortunately, the Pharisaical tradition has been passed down through the generations and has hurt many churches. It manifests itself in the pastor who is exposed as a serial adulterer or the deacon who is exposed to be an abusive drunk. When we see these folk fall, it feels only natural to quote Jesus and say “Hypocrites!” But who exactly can we categorize as a hypocrite? The church has found itself in an interesting position with the rise of cancel culture, but I believe we have been canceling people in our hearts long before it was ever a part of the culture. This inward cancel culture stems, I believe, from a poor understanding of hypocrisy. Allow me to explain. 

Define Your Terms

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The term hypocrite comes from the Greek term ὑποκριτής (hoop-ok-ree-tace) which is a term used to describe someone who is judging from underneath. Underneath what? This is actually a theatrical term used to describe the Greek actors who would put on different masks to indicate which character they were acting as. The original word itself paints a picture of what a hypocrite is. The hypocrite is one who intentionally puts on a figurative mask to play the part of something they are not. This definition fits the M.O. of many fallen pastors. This is what Jesus means when he says “you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” The scribes and Pharisees wore the mask of well-intentioned religious figures but had actually had ill intentions and personal agendas within their hearts. They knew how to work a crowd and gained the favor of many throughout their existence. It was never meant to be this way for the scribes and Pharisees, but somewhere along the way, their identity changed. There are plenty of well-intending people who fall prey to this double life: whether it be in speech or deed.

Tu Quoque

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It is unfortunate to see instances of the word hypocrite being attributed to wrong people. There is actually a logical fallacy known as Tu Quoque, a Latin term which means you also! This is the fallacy of appealing to hypocrisy to make your opponent’s argument invalid. Unfortunately, Tu Quoque often means pointing out that your opponent messed up at some time, somewhere, rather than pointing out true hypocrisy. Remember, hypocrisy is intentionally putting on a mask for the desired outcome. When it comes to judgment (see my last post), we can often be tempted to appeal to hypocrisy. It is especially tempting when we are the ones being judged. Whenever we are confronted by others about our own sin, we can be quick to go through the tickler file in our brains — we start looking for whatever dirt we’ve got. Once we remember that the person confronting us is a sinner too, then we quickly dismiss them because “who are they to judge me?” “They were the ones who ____, and they want to judge me now? They don’t know what they are talking about.” At least that’s what we tell ourselves, Congratulations, you’ve committed Tu Quoque. Allow me to illustrate, if a brother who is a serial adulterer wants to correct me on my moral behavior, without first repenting of their sins, two things should be noted: first, he has broken the model of Matthew 7 by not first judging himself, and second, he is a now proper hypocrite that should be dismissed until he repents. Now let’s say the person confronting me had a moral failure in their past but had repented. Am I equally justified in dismissing his comments on my behavior? I’d argue no. Had he committed hypocritical behavior? On a technicality, sure. Is he a hypocrite? No. Clumping exhibit A with exhibit B and dismissing them both as hypocrites is simply foolish. If we do so, then we have successfully labeled anyone who has sinned as a hypocrite, and now made our understanding of hypocrisy void of any grace. So long as everyone who has failed in life is a hypocrite, and no hypocrite is allowed to judge us, then we have closed ourselves off to all constructive criticism. But how often do we do this? We do not allow anyone to be imperfect except for ourselves, and this means that until someone is perfect, nobody can judge you. I think the folk on Twitter put it this way, “Only God can judge me!”

Final Thoughts

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I strongly believe that if we align our understanding of hypocrisy with its literal meaning, then we’d see far fewer hypocrites in our world. Perhaps we could start showing a little grace and accept that we are all imperfect people who need to be helping other imperfect people. In my last post, I defended the need for judgment in the church, but now I want to argue that judgment goes both ways. If we are going to judge our brothers and sisters to restore them, then we have to be willing to be judged ourselves without dismissing every imperfect person as a hypocrite. Jesus knew a hypocrite when he saw one, but it wasn’t every sinner he saw; likewise, we can know a hypocrite when we see one, but it should not be every sinner we see.