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Gary G. Hoag
“He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."”— Mark 7:6
When you do such deeds, Jesus says, “do not act like the hypocrites, who have trumpets blown before them, in the synagogues and streets, as they go to do their good deeds in order to be glorified by human beings” (Matthew 6:2). “In fact,” he continues to say, “they have received their reward in full.” What they wanted, they got. They wanted people to recognize their good deed and people did. The ego is bloated and the soul shrivels.
A special word about “the hypocrites” is required here. It is a term used by Jesus alone in the New Testament, and he uses it seventeen times. The term hypocrite in classical Greek primarily refers to an actor, such as one sees on the stage, but it came to refer also to anyone who practices deceit. It is clear from the literary records that it was Jesus alone who brought this term and the corresponding character into the moral vocabulary of the Western world.
He did so because of his unique emphasis upon the moral significance of the inmost heart before God. As we are creative beings, our heart is who we really are. Jesus therefore made repeated and unmistakable distinctions between our face to the world and our person before God.”
Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1998) 191.
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This statement is worth repeating because it can only be attributed to Jesus.
“A special word about “the hypocrites” is required here. It is a term used by Jesus alone in the New Testament, and he uses it seventeen times.”
17 hypocrites. We must not miss what Jesus is saying in today's Scripture and 16 others like it.
Jesus cares about our hearts before God as it shows we you really are.
Who are you? Is your face to the world the same as your face toward God? This is one of those questions no one asks but everyone must be prepared to answer.
Want to grow your heart in the area of generosity? Ask yourself a hard question.
Why do you give? Your answer reveals the location or posture of your heart. Perhaps journal on this question for a few minutes. Assess your answer honestly.
Now ask yourself how or in what ways you are a hypocrite?
Why do this? I am trying to help you realize that God does not need your money or mine. He wants our hearts.
Giving dismantles the power money has over us.
In what ways you are a hypocrite related to money? Do you obey or ignore the teachings of Jesus on the topic?
How you live, give, serve, and love flows from the posture of your heart. Get your heart right, and everything will be good from there.
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