Matthew 15:7-9 English Standard Version

7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

It is one thing to be called out by our Lord for our actions and a totally different thing to be called a hypocrite by the lawless. When I speak of the lawless, I speak to God’s law not man’s.

Isaiah 5:20a English Standard Version (ESV) Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,

A woe is defined as a denunciation by God or grieving God. Let us try and avoid that please.

Rather than allowing this to become political theater, let us address the issue of how we should respond when we are called hypocrites by the worldly. 

What do the worldly know of Christ? They reject Him, His teachings and anyone who calls themselves a Christian. Do not be wounded by their accusations of hypocrisy. Those who do so are acting according to their own true nature. We are asked to respond with our divine nature, one that is still learning what it means to be like Christ.

When accused Christ did not answer. He remained silent. He did so because He knew where He was going and what He had to do next.

This is our dilemma in our moments of accusation. Do we know our calling in Christ and what we are about to do next? We have to look beyond the moment and ignore our human response and to look to Christ in what comes next. We are called to look to the future, not the moment.

In some cases it will be caring more about the opinion of God than the opinion of the world. We cannot allow people who do not know God to tell us how God feels about us and our actions. That is for God to do alone, in our personal time with Him.

Yes the world can wound us, but Christ is the Great Physician, the healer of all wounds.

Titus 2:7-8 English Standard Version

7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

2 Corinthians 8:23 English Standard Version (ESV) As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers[a] of the churches, the glory of Christ.

Footnote [a] Greek apostles

Paul’s description of Titus is one of a type of apostle. We often refer to the apostles as being disciples of Christ who walked with Him during His pre-cross ministry. I am not going to argue that point but having searched Titus’ assignments it sounds more like the work of a shepherd.

Shepherds tend to the needs of the flock where the flock might be their own, or is a hireling. Another name for a shepherd is pastor. Neither are listed in service groups listed in 1 Corinthians 12:28 but are included in Ephesians 4:11.

In neither case were they identified as teachers. Perhaps Paul’s addressing Titus’ teaching as being another type of teacher. This is a teacher type we all share in regardless of education or title. It is leading by example.

Years ago a team returning from the missionary field in Russia made a rather compelling comment about the Russian people. “They do not ask questions but observe carefully how we treat one another.” The idea being if we could not love one another, we could not love them.

It does not matter what we say if our life reflects the actions of a hypocrite.