Luke 12:1 (ESV)
¹ In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

In another place Jesus referred to the teaching of the Pharisees as their “leaven” (Matthew 16:1-12). This makes sense because the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is tied into both their living and teaching. They were hypocrites precisely because their lives did not match what they taught.

Matthew 23:1-3 (ESV)
¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

This is a classic example of hypocrisy, that is, teaching one thing and, either practicing something contrary to that teaching, or, as is the case here, teaching something that one is unwilling to practice. So, of what should we beware? We have to beware that we practice what we preach.

There are very few things less distasteful than hypocrisy found in a Christian. This is why the scriptures often admonish us to live appropriately before the world (Titus 2:7-8; 1 Peter 2:12).

Paul tells us to walk wisely towards outsiders, that is, those who are not Christians (Colossians 4:5). We do this by taking the time to preach to them. However, as we have seen, we must make sure that our conduct is in order before we attempt to teach the gospel to anyone. If our actions do not line up with what we preach, the world will think very poorly of us and our God (Romans 2:17-24). Is this fair to God? Absolutely not! However, this is the damage we cause when we live hypocritically.

For this reason, hypocrisy is distasteful, not only to the world, but to Christ as well. When describing the hypocrisy of the church at Laodicea, referring to them as being lukewarm, Jesus said He was going to spit them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:14-16). Nobody likes to bite into food that is lukewarm. We want our food to be either cold or hot, but not lukewarm. This is a good description of Christianity. We all fall into one of these categories. If we are hot, we are on fire for the Lord, putting Him first in our lives, and, by doing so, being a great example to the non-Christians around us. If we are cold, we are living a worldly life, which is appreciated by the world because we are living just like them. However, if we are lukewarm, we pretend to be more spiritual than we really are and that is hypocrisy.

The Greek word for hypocrite (hypokritēs) refers to a stage actor who is simply playing the role of someone else. That is great if you are really an actor; however, to pretend to be a Christian is shameful and the worse thing a person can do to the cause of Christ.

Let us strive to be sincere Christians like Timothy, whose faith was unfeigned (2 Timothy 1:5). The world still may not like us, but they will respect our sincerity, and some might even glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Mostly importantly, we will be securing for ourselves a home in heaven by pleasing our Savior rather than having Him spit us out of His mouth.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.