Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:  “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  so you must be careful to do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”  Matthew 23:1-4  NIV

We all know them.  They are the hypocrites.  They preach that we should do this and do that and they do the opposite.  Many people will tell you that they don’t want to go to church because of all the hypocrites in church.  My former pastor used to say, “well come on and join us, there is always room for one more.”  What he meant by that, was that by judging someone who is going to church and then refusing to go to church that makes you a hypocrite also.

Hypocrites are everywhere.  We have all worked for the boss that tells us how important punctuality is, but then ambles into the office an hour later than everyone else.  Then there is the boss that tells us how we must carefully proofread reports and documents but then misspells words or has several typos in the memo telling us how important it is to proofread.  Now this boss could simply say, “Do as I say and not as I do”.  But in all honesty, how much respect are you going to have for someone that uses that type of logic?

Let’s face it.  We want someone that is not going to just talk the talk but be willing to walk the walk.  This is why God sent Jesus to earth in human form, to show us how to live a sin free life.  Jesus was a perfect example.  Now we all know that we can’t be perfect, but we can certainly strive to be the best we can be.

In this scripture passage, Jesus is warning the crowds and his disciples that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees will try to add a lot of laws and rules to what they must do.  But seriously if you will take the time to read the ten commandments (Exodus 20:3-17) you will see that if you obey those commandments then you will not need any other laws because they pretty much cover it all.  Now if you perhaps can’t remember all those commandments then you need only remember what Jesus told the disciples was the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:26-30).  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind.  Now if you love the Lord with all you have you won’t want to sin.  So it will be easy to walk the walk and talk the talk.  Now in the second one, which is like it, Jesus told his disciples that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  If we are as good to our neighbors as we are to ourselves then we shouldn’t want to hurt them in any way, right?  So if we follow these two commandments then we will be following all ten, right?

As Christians what we say to people doesn’t matter nearly as much as how they see us behave.  If you are the longwinded, wordy type then I am really sorry to burst your bubble.  But some people won’t even really listen to what we have to say.  Some people will just sit there and pretend to listen to be polite.  But people will definitely watch what we do and how we act.

So are you telling people about God and then acting like the devil?  Is your talk matching your walk?  Or are you just hoping that people will do as you say and not as you do?

Now this brings up another interesting question?  Take a minute to think about this one.  What if everyone did as you do?  Would the world be a better place or a worse place?

I have lived as a Sunday morning angel and a Monday-Saturday devil.  I can tell you that this just brought chaos and strife into my life.  Once I did my best to line my living up with the way God instructed, it made my life a lot easier.

Romans 2:3,  Do you suppose, O man-you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself-that you will escape the judgment of God?  

When we do as God says, others will take notice.  It sets us apart in a good way.  Others will want what we have.  Often our best witness is our attitude and our actions towards God and others.

So I encourage you today to be sure that the testimony of your living lines up with the testimony that comes out of your lips.

Have a great weekend!