Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18
Warnings About Religious Practices
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In Jesus’ culture, it was easy to turn devotion to God into a performance to receive praise—like a stage actor, or in Greek, hupocrites, meaning “hypocrite.” Jesus offers three case studies to help his followers avoid hypocrisy.
Chapter from Sermon on the Mount E17
The Meaning of the Word Hypocrite
In our culture, we label someone a hypocrite when their actions don’t line up with what they say they value. When Jesus uses the word hypocrite, he’s referring to something different—a person who does the right thing but for the wrong reason.
Jesus taught that the good life flows out of a close, intimate relationship with God. Jesus also lived in a culture where it was easy to turn intimacy with God into a performance to receive praise. To describe this kind of behavior, Jesus uses the word “hypocrite.” We typically view a hypocrite as someone who says they believe something but doesn’t reflect the beliefs in their actions. But Jesus uses this word to refer to someone who does the right things for the wrong reasons. To help us avoid this kind of hypocrisy, Jesus offers three case studies on the most common religious practices of his day: generosity, prayer, and fasting. He values these practices, and encourages us to find creative ways of expressing our devotion so that we don’t treat God’s love like a trophy.