Integrity Versus Hypocrisy!

We all tend to be good (or bad) at making cosmetic changes and acting as if this outward appearance is who we are deep down inside as well.  People notice how we appear on the surface and often conclude that this “skin deep” improvement or quality is who we are. From that point on it is not hard for us to act or play the part, and then the hypocrisy begins!

Are you the same person on Friday night that you are on Sunday morning? Do you treat your spouse and children the same in public as you do in private?  Do you give the impression that you are more confident about life and faith and the future than you really are? Have you tried to make it look like you are more together than you appear?

When we pretend, we are being the double-minded man of James 1:8 – “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Duplicity, however, is counter to our God-given inner ethic and damages our health emotionally and spiritually. A wholesome and integrated life, one where there is harmony between how one acts and who one is, reflects stability and trustworthiness and honors the One in whose image we are made.

We know that Jesus Christ was particularly angry at hypocrisy, which means we had better be extra wary of giving in to this temptation.  In the midst of our Lord’s scathing rebuke of the Pharisees, He pronounces: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also” Matthew 23:25-26.

It is important to notice that if the Pharisees cleaned the inside of the cup first, the outside would follow suit! Did you catch that?  We must allow our Lord to do deep cleansing – not just in the Spring – but all year round! David prayed: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me” Psalm 51:10.

As we allow the Lord to truly have His way with us, at heart level, right behavior will follow.  God is not impressed with our performance unless our motives are pure. That is why David also prayed: “Search me, O God, and know my heart, examine me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” Psalm 139:23-24.

When we allow the Lord to clean house at the soul level, we develop into a person of character where our outer self is integrated with our inner self. When righteous acts compliment righteous motives, we are functioning as God intended, further resulting in a sense of fulfillment, peace, and security that comes from living a life of integrity.

Pastor John Wallace Miller