[Editor’s Note: This is part of a devotional series through the book of Romans.]
Romans 2:17–24
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God [18] and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; [19] and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, [20] an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—[21] you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? [22] You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [23] You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. [24] For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Paul is not one for nuance. He prizes clarity. He calls a thing what it is. And here, in Romans 2:17–24, the apostle is calling out hypocrisy.
Notice all the things Paul says are true of those who call themselves Jews: they “rely on the law and boast in God”; “know his will and approve what is excellent”; serve as a “guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness”; etc. In other words, these are people who claim to know God, his ways, and presume to teach others the Scriptures. And you don’t get the impression from Paul that they’re not orthodox. Indeed, they appear to rightly know the law and teach accurately what the Scriptures say.
But there is one fatal flaw in these people: they’re hypocrites. They don’t actually do what they say and thereby reveal the perilous state of their hearts.
Paul gets at the heart of the matter when he relentlessly exposes their hypocrisy through several rhetorical questions: “while you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” Paul makes it clear that their boasting is not good for these teachers of the law are actually dishonoring God by breaking the law. Finally, Paul warns them of the tragic result of their hypocrisy: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be someone they’re not, a fake. And Jesus has great energy against hypocrites, especially hypocrites in ministry. Consider, for example, Matthew 15:7–8 where Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their fake worship:
You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
“Vain” worship; feigned devotion to God with hearts far from him. And this is not merely an issue for the fake worship leader, but has tragic implications for those he leads. As Jesus warns in Matthew 23:13–15,
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
“Twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” Let this sink in, pastor.
Pastors must heed these warnings. O, how vital is our holiness, our sincerity before the Lord and our churches! We must not be “do as I say not as I do” pastors. For if we are, not only will we be judged, but our folly will be the ruin of countless others.
Sobering! Thank you Dr. Pohlman for the reminder of the call to relationship with Christ, and even more the call to pastor . . . Correctly. Sobering!