Did that get your attention? It sure gets mine! We were at the air show and in front of us was a Mennonite family. They were dressed in a way that was different from the world, plain, modest clothing. Their haircuts and head coverings also gave way to the idea that they were 'religious' folks. But their actions and language proved different. They didn't act like they read or live by God's word. And I was surprised at how hypocritical it seemed to me.
I so desperately wanted to ask them if they knew how to get to heaven? Maybe they thought that if they dress a certain way or do certain things this will bring favor from God. Isaiah 64:6 "But we are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Maybe they had just done what their parents had told them and didn't have a need to understand the why?
When I worked as a bank teller they taught us how to look for counterfeit money. Interestingly enough they didn't show us all the different ways that people have frauded money, they taught us how real money was made. We learned what it feels like, what it's made of, the designs, numbers and everything that made a true bill. So I associated this with Christianity. We learn truth, from reading the Bible, so we know what it means to be a Christian. We try to be that example for our children, so that they see truth, because kids pick up on it so quickly. I believe that hypocrisy is the seed to rebellion in children. But God sees the heart of every one of us! And each of us will have to stand before Him one day.
The experience has been hard to get out of my mind, and I am constantly thinking about how and in what areas in my life I appear hypocritical. I pray that I am humble enough to do as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine yourseles, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" Because Matthew 12:33-37 says, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
