One of the things that seemed to really get under Jesus' skin was the hypocrite. He cast their lot with the worst of the worst in the world of his day. Surprisingly, in Jesus' day, the word hypocrite came from the art world and specifically that of the theater. The Hypocrite was the actor who changed masks or roles in order to play to the crowd. While it may not mirror our definition of a hypocrite in our day, it does portray what a hypocrite does. They are like chameleons that change their appearance and behavior to suit their surroundings. 

Two recent news articles that I read highlighted the absurdity of the hypocrite.

One, from New Hampshire, told of the State's Liquor Commissioner being arrested for a DWI offense (driving while under the influence of alcohol). As a result of this offense, Richard Simard loses a $90,000 (and change) annual salary and even worse, he loses his integrity. It is stunning to think that the very man in charge of the regulation of the sale and distribution of alcohol would violate the laws governing its' very use.

In Pennsylvania, a woman was the victim of a sexual assault inside the Bensalem Rescue Squad's headquarters. The perpetrator of the crime was Michael Marren, who headed a Pennsylvania police department's sex crimes unit. Amazing! The very man commissioned by the people's government to insure protection to victim's of sexual assault, was the one who committed this heinous crime!

In the church, we will always have hypocrites as well. As far back as Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 (verse 1-10) through to the sex scandals in churches in the 21st century, it seems that we are destined to have such in our midst. In our efforts to deal with such in the church, Jesus even gave us a warning. By comparing the true saints to the "actors" he warned about dealing with the tares that grew in the midst of the wheat. It is possible that in trying to eliminate the tares, or weeds, we could also destroy the wheat.

With that in mind, I have a simple request today.

Let the Hypocrites Arise!

And quietly leave the building...