I’d been a believer for a year when I met Walt. He captivated a crowd when he preached. His counsel was pivotal in my life, and God used him to strengthen my young faith. But Walt turned out to be a hypocrite. After proclaiming God’s glory, he’d visit prostitutes on his way home to his wife. After his divorce, he stole another man’s wife. Walt’s downfall disoriented me. How could I be so helped by a man who was such a hypocrite?
Sadly, it wouldn’t be the last time I faced this question. When I was in seminary, the godliest girl I knew married an unbeliever and walked away from Christ. An apologist who bolstered my belief turned out to be an abusive adulterer. The composer of one of my favorite hymns left his family and renounced the faith. The author of a life-transforming book on holiness abandoned his profession and now celebrates immorality. A spiritual father failed morally and vanished from public ministry.
Hypocrites like these leave confused followers wondering, “What happened? Were they ever believers at all? How could they speak so helpfully while living so deceitfully? Can I still believe the lessons they taught?”
Hypocrisy Unmasked
Our word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek hypokritēs, which referred to an actor who wore a mask to perform a part in a play. Hypocrites, therefore, are mask-wearers who adopt one identity while living another.
Scripture does not hide its hypocrites. Demas once made disciples but later forsook Jesus for the world (2 Timothy 4:10). Judas led people to Jesus and then sold him for silver (Matthew 26:14–16). Hymenaeus likely sang hymns with the church he later tried to deceive (2 Timothy 2:16–18). Something happened with these men that derailed their devotion. Unaddressed sin, unconfessed compromises, and overlooked commandments eventually took their toll, and their shipwrecked faith left confounded sheep in its wake (1 Timothy 1:19–20).
Not all hypocrisy is the same. Some apostatize, denying the faith they once proclaimed or refusing to repent of sin instead of obeying the Savior (1 John 2:19). Others, like Peter, truly believe but allow the heat of the moment to overcome their faith-filled intentions (Luke 22:54–62). They go out weeping bitterly.
Regardless of how their hypocrisy unfolded, we wrestle with swirling questions about their soul, their teaching, and the God they told us about. Satan wants to stoke skepticism so we’ll also abandon Jesus. But rather than succumb to his scheme, we must turn to Jesus instead.
1. Jesus warned us about hypocrites.
Hypocrisy among professing believers should sadden but not surprise us. Jesus told us it was coming. He warned us to “beware” of hypocrites (Luke 12:1). He knew we would need his warning because they hide like wolves disguised as sheep (Matthew 7:15). They slip into our fellowship unnoticed (Jude 4), appearing to be holy yet unclean as a tomb (Matthew 23:27–28).
But our surprise over specific leaders does make sense. We never thought that person would be a hypocrite. Satan wants to take advantage of our surprise and stir doubt about Jesus’s trustworthiness too. Do not fall into his trap. Jesus’s caution is evidence that we can trust him. He is a good shepherd. Hear his warnings as loving protection, and don’t give ear to the evil one.
2. Jesus endured the harm of hypocrites.
God created us to trust spiritual authority. He gives us leaders to help us hear his voice and know how to walk with him. This is why their betrayals hurt so much. Sorrow moves us to groan like David, “It is you . . . my companion, my familiar friend” (Psalm 55:13).
Allow your grief to turn you to Jesus. He also endured the sorrow of hypocrisy. What was it like meeting in the garden with the disciples, knowing that Judas would one day guide his capturers there (John 18:2)? How did he feel watching Judas pretend to care about the poor while pilfering from the money bag (John 12:4–6)? What did he think during fellowship meals, knowing Judas would soon depart to sell him for silver (John 13:30)?
We don’t know exactly what Jesus experienced, but we do know he withstood it all without sin (1 Peter 2:22). He endured the harm of hypocrites without falling into cynicism, bitterness, or unbelief. He sympathizes with your sorrow, supplies comfort in your confusion, and gives you grace to recover from their fall (Hebrews 4:15–16). Come to Jesus: His ministry will not harm you.
3. Jesus warned about our own hypocrisy.
When others are exposed as frauds, we can feel superior. Our hearts can cry out, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this [pastoral hypocrite]” (Luke 18:11).
Never forget Paul’s warning: “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). None of us is safe from sin. Doubting this truth reveals the kind of pride that often precedes a fall (Proverbs 16:18). This is why Jesus commands humble self-examination before we examine others’ lives (Matthew 7:1–5). When a spiritual leader falls into sin, it should move us to fall before the Savior and plead for protection.
But do not assume their compromises mean your fall is inevitable. A friend recently learned of a spiritual hero’s disqualification. He assumed that if his hero couldn’t make it, neither could he. But that’s not true. Jesus is the never-failing hero who can help us be sobered but not fatalistic. Jesus “is able to keep you from stumbling” (Jude 24). So, humble yourself and draw near to him for help.
4. Jesus told us how to treat a hypocrite’s teaching.
Shortly before his betrayal, Jesus addressed the teaching of hypocrites: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice” (Matthew 23:2–3). Jesus prepared his disciples to distinguish between the message and the messenger. Fallen leaders tempt us to doubt that God’s truth is always trustworthy. But Matthew Henry counsels us, “We must not think the worse of good truths for their being preached by bad ministers.”
We’re told instead to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Like the Bereans, we should examine the Scriptures to see whether what we have been taught is so (Acts 17:11). You may find the collapse of some teacher was not disconnected from his doctrine but was the bitter fruit of compromised convictions. Other hypocrites may have developed a frightening ability to speak truly while living callously. Either way, Jesus’s lesson remains: God’s truth cannot be undermined by a compromiser’s failure. Remember that it was God who ultimately ministered his word to you (1 Corinthians 3:5–7). Even if they preached with corrupt motives, the Christ whom they proclaimed is real and faithful (Philippians 1:15–18).
Wrestling with God’s truth afresh serves your soul. It takes your eyes off your questions about the fallen messenger and fixes them on God’s infallible message. In this way, Satan overplays his hand. If you come in faith to seek the true Jesus in his word, you will find him. Spiritual maturity is developed as we learn “to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14). In this way, a hypocrite’s fall drives the roots of your faith deeper into streams of living water, producing a firmer planting and a more fruitful life (Psalm 1:2–3). God shows himself to be more desirable and more satisfying.
5. Jesus taught us whom to build our life upon.
We can be helped by teachers, but we must not place our hope in them. As the prophet Jeremiah warned, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man” (Jeremiah 17:5). Only Jesus is worthy of our full confidence. Jesus once told a tale of two builders. One built his life upon the rock of Jesus’s teachings. The other did not. Eventually, a storm blew in, and the one founded on Christ withstood the floods and winds. Those who build elsewhere eventually learn the lesson of the old hymn: “All other ground is sinking sand.”
The apostle Paul challenges shaky faith built on unworthy foundations: “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar” (Romans 3:3–4). If we are standing on anything other than Christ, we need our insecurity exposed so we can build upon the rock that never moves.
6. Jesus never succumbed to hypocrisy.
Leaders may fail you, but Jesus never does. The author of Hebrews exhorts us, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). Leaders should live in such a way that invites imitation. So, when they fail, it disorients us. Their voice, once a source of spiritual help, has become a source of spiritual harm. That’s partly why the author of Hebrews follows his exhortation with this word of assurance: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Keep your eyes on Jesus. He has always been, is now, and forever shall be the holy, unchanging, faithful one.
I was helped by the hypocrites when they pointed me to Jesus. And strangely, I was helped by them when they fell, because their fall forced me to flee afresh to Jesus. And he’s always faithful. So, even as you grieve the fall of your heroes in the faith, keep your eyes on Jesus. All other ground is sinking sand.
Desiring God