How Do You Handle Hypocrisy?

In the garden of Gethsemane, Judas Iscariot went up to Jesus and "kissed him very tenderly." This was a customary expression of warm affection. But Judas' gesture was only a pretense to identify Jesus to those who had come in the night to arrest him. (Matthew 26:48, 49)Judas was a hypocrite - a person who pretends to be what he is not, someone who hides his bad motives behind a mask of sincerity. The Greek word rendered "hypocrite" means "one who answers" and also denotes a stage actor. In time, the word came to refer to anyone who was simply putting on an act in order to deceive others.

How do you react to hypocrisy? Do you get angry, for example, when you see cigarette manufacturers promote smoking despite medical evidence that their product is harmful? Are you incensed at the hypocrisy of caretakers who abuse those entrusted to their care? Do you feel hurt when a friend who you thought was genuine turns out to be false? How does religious hypocrisy affect you?

Next time: "Woe To You... Hypocrites!"