Articles
Too Many Hypocrites - Acts 5
Too Many Hypocrites - Acts 5
We have often heard it said, "the church is filled with hypocrites." It is interesting then to read of such in the early church. First, the record tells us that the church was made up of people devoted to following the Lord. They were so devoted that they were willing to sell off their possessions in order to provide the living necessities of each other. They were sincere in their faith and were not hypocrites. Then chapter five begins: "BUT a man named Ananias….”.
He and his wife did play the hypocrite. They did perpetrate a falsehood about their character. They wanted to be known as ‘charitable and loving’ when they were still greedy and covetous. They lied not only to men, the lied to Holy Spirit and to God (5:3,4). Such is the very nature of hypocrisy - it is a lie.
This was not just the ‘normal hypocrisy’ where one slips up and makes a mistake. This was an intentional, deliberate attempt at deception. They agreed together to do this. They planned and carried out this public lie.
Be not deceived, God is not mocked (Gal. 6:7). Be sure, your sins will find you out (Num. 32:23). There is nothing hidden from our God (1Cor. 4:5). What we think, plan, and desire in our inner being is clearly known by God. There is no hypocrisy before God, there is only the reality of very character.
We might struggle with the severity of the judgment meted out on this occasion, but I trust that God took everything into consideration. Such public hypocrisy would have been discovered sooner or later, and would bring about the same disgust with the ‘hypocrites of the church’ as it now does. The church had enough to struggle with without having this on their agenda.
This story should warn each of us about the inner thoughts of our hearts and the foundation of our character. Things like greed, covetousness, lying, etc., do not come from God but from Satan who fills the heart with such ungodly desires. We must be warned that OUR example to the world is important. The world still takes such limited data (there were only the 2 who did this out of the thousands that made up the church then) and applies it to ‘the church’. Such is an unfortunate over-generalization. Even today, I would observe that the church is NOT ‘full of hypocrites’ but it does have some.
We also can observe that when the church is careful about its character and public actions, God will be glorified. Brethren, WE are the church and individually members of the body. What you do does impact the public reputation of the church. Some upon seeing what YOU do may be turned against both God and the whole body of believers.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Hypocrisy is the antithesis of such purity. There will be no hypocrisy in heaven. Hugh DeLong
