Religious Hypocrisy

THE Palm Beach, Florida, “Post-Times” printed a letter from a young lad. It read:

“I hate going to church because I see people there who I know are drunkards, gossips, liars and cheats . . . I don’t have any respect for hypocrites and our church is full of them.”​—May 27, 1979.

Religious hypocrisy is not uncommon. Nor is it new. Even back when God was dealing with the Israelites as a people, at times hypocrisy was common. God expressed his view of it through the prophet Amos,a which is also His view of the various forms of religious hypocrisy today.

Through Amos God said: “Hear this, you men snapping at someone poor, even in order to cause the meek ones of the earth to cease, saying, ‘How long will it be before the new moon passes and we may sell cereals? Also, the sabbath, and we may offer grain for sale; in order to make the ephah [the container for measuring out an ephah of grain] small and to make the shekel [the shekel weight used for weighing items when buying] great and to falsify the scales of deception; in order to buy lowly people for mere silver and someone poor for the price of a pair of sandals, and that we may sell mere refuse of grain?’”​—Amos 8:4-6.

So these Israelites scrupulously observed the festival of the new moon and the weekly sabbath by refraining from all business activities. But they could not wait until these days of rest were over to resume their lawless practices. Their dishonesty brought ruin to the lowly and afflicted. Thus they caused the meek ones “to cease.” These wicked men would callously defraud the poor by using false weights and measures. The poor would, therefore, become destitute and would be forced to sell themselves into slavery, and these selfish men would buy them. A poor man might not be able to pay for a pair of sandals, and for this his creditor might sell him into slavery. Not only was cheating done in the amount of grain that was sold but also as regards the quality of the cereals. The commodity sold was “mere refuse.”

The actions of the unfaithful Israelites did not escape the notice of Jehovah God. He detested their religious hypocrisy. Through his prophet, he decreed: “Jehovah has sworn by the Superiority of Jacob [that is, by himself, as he could swear by none greater; compare Hebrews 6:13], ‘Never will I forget all their works. Will it not be on this account that the land will be agitated, and every inhabitant in it will have to mourn; and it will, all of it, certainly come up just like the Nile and be tossed and sink down like the Nile of Egypt?’”​—Amos 8:7, 8.

These words made it clear that the Most High would not forget the record of shameful works that stood against unfaithful Israelites. Under the weight of his judgment, the land would be in a state of agitation and the inhabitants would mourn. Thus the land would, in effect, rise and fall as does the Nile when it overflows its banks and then recedes.

Jehovah God has not changed his view of religious hypocrisy. His approved servants are those only whose works are in full harmony with his Word. (Jas. 1:25-27) That is why we should make sure that we are indeed living upright lives from God’s standpoint.

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