Hypocrisy is one of the few vices that our culture lashes against without apology. It is the one vice that all sincere Christians are deemed guilty of cherishing. With typical fuzzy logic, the world defines hypocrisy as any moral failure on the part of those who love and preach God’s Law. Yet those of the world do not consider that the occasional lapse or fall of a Christian is the result of the world’s relentless attacks — as if treason meant a soldier fell in battle, or suicide meant a patient succumbed to cancer.

True hypocrisy does not consist of mistakes or inconsistencies. It is a willful pretending to be something that one has no intention of being. True hypocrisy is a serious sin, one that Jesus Himself denounced (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16; 23:1-33; etc.). But the so-called hypocrisy that the world loves to paint Christians with is defined in much broader terms.

Although the evil-hiding-under-good type of hypocrisy is bad and condemned in the Bible, there is another type of hypocrisy that is also condemned: We could call it the good-hiding-under-evil type. You will seldom see Hollywood vilify this kind.

This hypocrisy is when a person allows themselves to be seen as someone they are not, refusing to stand up and be counted. Often the motivation for this hypocrisy is fear, loneliness, or political jockeying. It may also represent an idolatry of human relationships, where the honor of God is held secondary to the feelings of family, friends, or others. It requires no special efforts, only sitting tight, standing with the right crowd, or keeping one’s mouth shut. You might say it is a passive form of dishonesty.

An example of this type of hypocrisy is when Peter yielded to the customs of the Judaizers in Galatians 2:11-14. Peter did not inwardly approve of the Jewish believers treating the Gentiles as lesser brethren. Prior to the Judaizers’ arrival he had freely mixed with the Gentiles. But his sin was that he allowed his influence to be for evil when he separated from the Gentile believers to associate with the Judaizers, a choice that showed a lack of resolute impartiality. The effect was so damaging to the Christian body that Paul “withstood [Peter] to the face,” rebuking him openly (verse 11).

In the Bible both types of hypocrisy are sometimes called “dissimulation” or “dissembling.” This word is from the same Greek sources that we get the word “hypocrisy.”

The Bible says, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” These words especially address this other kind of hypocrisy, the passive kind. These words urge us to show our true colors. If someone is doing evil, it is wrong to act like we think it is okay. And if something is good, it is wrong to pretend to be unconcerned when the good is being attacked or ridiculed. The words “abhor” and “cleave” show the degree to which good and evil should be polarized in the Christian’s mind and in the Christian’s conduct.

We live in an age where wrong is accepted, even celebrated; and good is ignored, set aside, and slandered. If only our culture could be brought to see that these behaviors are also hypocrisy, how different might our world be. 

But what about mercy, compassion, forgiveness? If we want to know where to draw the line, the Biblical teaching on dissimulation shows us. It is important in showing compassion or reaching out to those in sin, that we refrain from suggesting a wrong behavior is okay. It is better to be frank and open regarding whatever evil may have been done. “It was wrong for you to murder your children. God hates that. But He still loves you, and so do I.” Or, in the words of Jesus, “Go, and sin no more.”