Whitewashed Tombs

“When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.”
Luke 11:37-38

Probably one of the most frequently heard objections, held by unbelievers, about going to church is that “the church is full of hypocrites.” Unbelievers, from my experience, perceive a hypocrite as being someone who tells you that the lifestyle or things you do are sinful, while struggling with the same things themselves. If that is what it means to be a hypocrite, then the church truly is full of hypocrites!

However, Jesus’ perceived hypocrisy through different lenses:

“Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”

Luke 11:39

Many people view hypocrisy as pretending to be something that we are not. When in all actuality it is more about concealing something that we are. Jesus uses a parallel passage to drive this point home in Matthew 23:27-28:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every unclean thing. In the same way you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Hypocrisy is an attempt to conceal that which is dead inside by making the exterior more attractive. Unfortunately, the beauty of the exterior does not change the absence of life on the inside. A hypocritical spirit develops when we are more concerned about how people see us than we are about the fact that we are full of death and wickedness. Hypocrisy is projecting on the outside to have something that we “know” not to have on the inside. This is not pretending. This is deception!

It is condemning others for refuting the truth, while concealing the fact that we are actively rejecting it in our own lives. However, I am not a hypocrite because I struggle with sin. Let’s say that someone tells you a lie. You confront them about it and explain to them that lying is not the way God intended us to live. Immediately, they say, “Don’t be so hypocritical. Are you going to tell me that you have never lied?” At this point you have done nothing hypocritical. I have simply proclaimed a truth about God and the way He desires us to live. However, if we go on to deny that we have ever lied and work to conceal that fact that we have lied in the past; we will find ourselves moving beyond the truth into hypocrisy. It is not hypocritical to say, “I wanted to talk to you about the lie you told. It isn’t the way that God intended us to live. I know because I struggle with that at times myself.” The fact that I struggle against sin, does not negate the truthfulness of God’s Word. The fact that I don’t always live up to the standards of God’s Word, does not negate the truthfulness of it. Truth is hard to swallow whether is comes from a righteous man or a hypocrite. You may be very transparent with people and they may still reject the truth, but they will likely not reject you, giving you the opportunity to continue to live out your witness before them. Conversely, if you attempt to conceal the fact that you struggle against sin and continue to project a life free from wrongdoing, people will not only reject the truth you bring, but you as well. To them you are nothing but a whitewashed tomb. Yes, you look good from the outside, but you are full of dead men’s bones. Are you in sin? You must take time to deal with it. The shiniest tomb in the graveyard still holds dead men’s bones. Let us confess our sins to God and He promises to cleanse us from all unrighteousness-from the inside out!

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/