Living in the Image of God M03S19
We discuss Christ teaching against hypocrisy through two events in the bible. First, in the Sermon on the Mount, he describes hypocrisy in terms of the motivation for doing something. He provides examples to distinguish between motivation that pleases God and motivation that displeases him. An act of worship or righteousness pleases God if motivated by seeking to fulfill his purpose. Other motivations displease him, such as seeking recognition, admiration, or honor. The second event is an address to his disciples and followers regarding relationship with Teachers of the Law, where he highlights two aspects of the individual responsibility in interactions with authority—respect for authority and rejection of hypocrisy.
In this bible study, we discuss Christ teaching against hypocrisy using information from two events in the bible. The first event is the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). He devotes a good part of the sermon (Matthew 6:1–18) to hypocrisy. He describes hypocrisy in terms of the motivation for doing something, using examples to distinguish between motivation that pleases God and motivation that displeases him. He explains that an act of worship or righteousness pleases God if motivated by seeking to fulfill his purpose. Any other motivation amounts to hypocrisy. Acts of worship or righteousness do not please God if motivated by seeking human recognition, admiration, or honor.
The second event is another major teaching when Christ addressed his disciples and followers regarding their relationship with Teachers of the Law. The address is at times referred to as the Seven Woes (Matthew 23). We focus on the first part of the address, where he highlights two aspects of the individual responsibility regarding interactions with authority. The first is the responsibility to respect and heed the authority and the second is the responsibility to recognize and reject hypocrisy that could manifest with people in authority.
Our discussion of hypocrisy includes an examination of a current event with a focus on understanding the motivation for doing something. Are you motivated by Living in the Image of God: recognizing that God has a purpose for you in every situation and seeking to advance his purpose through your response? Or, are you motivated by a desire for human recognition, admiration, or honor? The answer may not be binary; because human recognition, admiration, or honor could be associated with an objective motivated by Living in the Image of God. However, we expect our discussion to advance understanding and bring us closer to God’s purpose.
Hypocrisy from Sermon on the Mount
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ describes hypocrisy in terms of the motivation for doing something. He provides examples to distinguish between two types of motivation: human behavior motivated by seeking to fulfill God’s purpose and behavior motivated by seeking human recognition or honor. The examples include acts of righteousness such as giving to the needy and acts of worship such as prayer and fasting. One lesson based on the examples is that human behavior pleases God if it is motivated by seeking to fulfill his purpose. In contrast, acts of righteousness or worship do not please God if they are motivated by seeking human recognition, admiration, or honor.
Motivation in Giving to the Needy
Christ teaching conveys the message that giving to the needy pleases God if the giving is motivated by compassion. As we discuss in a previous study—Understanding Compassion, motivation by compassion means the person recognizes a need, cares about the needy, and is motivated by care of the needy to provide goods or service to alleviate the need. Any other motivation amounts to hypocrisy: such as seeking human recognition, admiration, or honor.
In the teaching, Christ describes human attitudes in giving to distinguish between giving motivated by hypocrisy and giving motivated by compassion. He describes the attitude as a pointer to the motivation. To describe giving motivated by hypocrisy, he said [Matthew 6:2]: “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” In contrast, to describe giving motivated by compassion, he said [Matthew 6:3–4]: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
To understand the teaching, we should focus on the message regarding the motivation for giving. A giving motivated by compassion seeks to alleviate the need because of care of the needy. In contrast, a giving motivated by hypocrisy seeks human recognition, admiration, or honor. A giving motivated by compassion pleases God whereas a giving motivated by hypocrisy displeases him.
Motivation in Prayer or Fasting
In the same event, Christ discusses attitudes in prayer and fasting: to distinguish between prayer or fasting motivated by hypocrisy and prayer or fasting motivated by seeking God. A prayer or fasting pleases God if motivated by seeking to communicate with him. In contrast, a prayer or fasting motivated by hypocrisy seeks to display or perform to impress others; therefore, does not please God.
Regarding prayer, he said [Matthew 6:5–6]: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
He made a similar statement regarding fasting, to distinguish between fasting that is a display for others to see and fasting that seeks to communicate with God [Matthew 6:16–18]: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Again, Christ discusses human attitudes regarding prayer and fasting to distinguish between motivation by hypocrisy and motivation by a desire to communicate with God. To understand the teaching, we should focus on the message regarding motivation. Prayer or fasting pleases God if motivated by seeking to communicate with him. In contrast, a prayer or fasting does not please God if motivated by hypocrisy—displaying to impress others.
Authority & Hypocrisy of Teachers of the Law
The second event of Christ teaching against hypocrisy is an address to his disciples and followers regarding their relationship with Teachers of the Law. The address provides instructions regarding two aspects of human interactions and relationships. The first instruction is about the individual responsibility regarding respect for authority. The second is about the individual responsibility regarding rejection of hypocrisy that could manifest in people of authority.
The Teachers of the Law were social and religious leaders among Jews and consisted of two sects known as Pharisees and Sadducees. They were educated in the Scriptures and laws of Moses. Their leadership authority derived from the authority of Moses.
The address begins with an instruction to respect the authority of Teachers of the Law and heed their teaching [Matthew 23:2–3]: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.” Also, he instructed them to reject the hypocrisy of Teachers of the Law: “…But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” He continued: “Everything they do is done for people to see…” [Matthew 23:5].
His instructions define the individual responsibility regarding interactions and relationships with the authority. Respect and obey the authority but reject any hypocrisy in living by people in authority.
Application to a Current Event
Our discussion of Christ teaching against hypocrisy included an analysis of a current event to understand how the teaching applies to the event. A teacher intending to hold fund-raising events to benefit a group of students wondered about a potential conflict with the statement of Matthew 6:2: “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” The teacher intended to announce the fund-raising effort to invite other potential participants, but was concerned that the plan appears in conflict with the statement of Matthew 6:2.
Our discussion led to understanding that the teacher’s intention is not in any conflict with Christ teaching in Matthew 6:2. The message of Christ teaching is that a giving motivated by compassion pleases God whereas a giving motivated by hypocrisy does not please him. The teacher’s plan is motivated by compassion for the students—recognized a need of the students, cares about the needy (i.e., the students), and is motivated by care of the needy to develop and embark on a plan to alleviate the need. Announcing the events to invite others is part of the teacher’s plan of actions toward successful fund-raising and is different from making announcements to impress others.
Therefore, the teacher should proceed with the events as planned. Also, the teacher can happily accept and thank God for any potential recognition or award given because of the fundraising, because the motivation for the program was to help needy students, not to win recognition for the teacher.
Summary of What We Learned
We discussed Christ teaching against hypocrisy through two events in the bible. First, in the Sermon on the Mount, he describes hypocrisy in terms of the motivation for doing something. He provides examples to distinguish between motivation that pleases God and motivation that displeases him. An act of worship or righteousness pleases God if motivated by seeking to fulfill his purpose. Other motivations displease him, such as seeking recognition, admiration, or honor.
The second event is an address to disciples and followers regarding relationship with Teachers of the Law, where he highlights two aspects of the individual responsibility in interactions with authority—respect for authority and rejection of hypocrisy.