This post is based on a talk I gave to a group of university students
Two big criticisms of religion are hypocrisy and judgementalism and Jesus has a lot to say about both. So let’s start with…
Hypocrisy
We hate hypocricy don’t we? We see it in politicians, thought leaders, celebrities, religious people, business tycoons… the list is endless. Politicians telling us not to have gatherings during Covid while they’re busy having parties. Elon Musk signing an open letter to pause AI development whilst secretly building his own AI company.
We also see it in ourselves if we’re honest. How many of us have changed our profile pic on social media to support the latest cause but then done nothing else to help? Virtue signalling is everywhere. It’s easy to change your profile pic on Instagram but harder to secretly donate money and time to that cause.
But even thought we’re all hypocrites to some extent, we respect people who are authentic and live out their values with integrity. We admire people who ‘practice what they preach’. One of the potential dark sides to religion is religious hypocrisy. There are unfortunately people who definitely don’t live out the values they claim to hold.
So what does Jesus say about this? Well, in a very practical and relatable way, he calls out religious hypocrisy using three examples of spiritual practices: giving, prayer and fasting. Jesus is talking here to his followers – not just the 12 disciples but others who were committed to his teaching – and he’s telling them how to be different from the Pharisees – the religious leaders of the day.
Jesus says that the Pharisees love to make a big show of it when they give. Like those giant cheques that you sometimes see being given to charities – they want as many people as possible to see how generous they are. The main motivation for their giving is to be praised by other people. But Jesus tells his followers to give in secret. Don’t brag about it, don’t post it all over Insta or Tik Tok so that people will think you’re great. Just give generously and quietly in obedience to God.
The same goes for praying. The Pharisees want to be seen as super-spiritual, praying long prayers with big words in the most public places so that people will admire their faith. But Jesus says that prayer is first and foremost about a relationship with God, not for show. We can come to God using normal language in the privacy of our rooms, knowing that he will hear us.
Fasting was another important spiritual discipline and the Pharisees made sure everyone knew they were doing it. They’d do the whole ‘woe is me’ bit and look sombre so that everyone would think they were really holy. But Jesus told his followers not to do anything differently so as not to draw attention to their fasting. The point of it is to focus on God, not to get kudos from other people.
The bottom line is that Jesus-followers should be doing spiritual practices because of love of God, not for show, ‘practising what they preach’ in secret, not for other people to think they’re great.
Judging others
Another potential dark side to religion is judgementalism. Sadly, I’ve met quite a few judgemental Christians in my time and we often have the sense that Christians are against everything when we see them protesting with placards the latest moral outrage. But I don’t think Christians are the only judgemental ones by a long stretch.
Our society is quite judgemental as anyone on the sharp end of cancel culture will tell you. One unwise Tweet can be the end of your career. Magazines are full of stories of the latest high-profile person to fall from grace. I’ve lost count of the number of blogs I’ve seen advising you to cut ‘toxic people’ out of your life. We’re very intolerant of people’s mistakes and even their deliberate wrongdoings. It feels like it’s one strike and you’re out.
Jesus recognises that our human nature tends towards judgementalism and so he tells us unequivocally not to judge one another. He says “Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do judge them, you’re a mile away and you’ve got their shoes.” NO HE DOESN’T!!
What he actually does is illustrate his point with a brilliantly visual (and pretty funny) picture of someone trying to get a speck of dust out of someone’s eye whilst they’ve got a massive log stuck in their own eye. It sounds ridiculous, but the point Jesus is making is that it is ridiculous for us to judge others.
When we’re picking fault with the world, or looking for someone to blame, we need to start with ourselves. A newspaper once asked its readers “What’s wrong with the world?” And the writer G. K. Chesterton simply replied, “Dear Sir, I am.”
But if it’s not up to us to judge people, does that mean that we can do what we want with no consequences? Not at all. What we do matters. When we hurt others, it matters. When we lie and steal and cheat, it matters. When we’re badly hurt by others, it matters. There will be justice, but that’s in God’s hands, not ours. Only God has the right to judge because he’s the only one who hasn’t done anything wrong. He has the right to judge us, but because he loves us he doesn’t want to condemn us. Instead, he sent Jesus to die for us and then beat death so that we can be forgiven.
So Christianity is a religion of freedom from judgement and condemnation. Rather than being cancelled, or cut off for being toxic we can be released from past mistakes and wrongdoings.
What is true religion?
So – just to end – if this is what true Jesus-following looks like, why are there people who call themselves Christians who are judgemental hypocrites? Well, Jesus anticipates and answers this question. He says that there are people who call him Lord but really have nothing to do with him. The mark of the true Christian is someone who does God’s will and follows Jesus.
Sadly there are judgemental hypocrites in every walk of life all over the world, but Jesus offers a better way to live. Have you thought about following him?
Questions for discussion
- Discuss recent examples you’ve seen of virtue signalling. Why do you think we’re so bothered about what other people think of us?
- “To allow a human being to drown because you are busy telling God how much you care about Him and His world is the ultimate hypocrisy.” (Benjamin Blech, Understanding Judaism: The Basics of Deed and Creed). What do you think of this quote? Do you agree? Why / why not?
- Do you think we have a right to judge others? Why / why not?
- What do you make of Jesus’ illustration of the speck and the log?
- Do you think there will one day be justice for all the hurts of the past? Why / why not?
- What do you make of Jesus’ teachings on hypocrisy and judgmentalism? Do they make sense to you? Why / why not?
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