Rise & Shine - October 22
Public Figures Called Out as Hypocrites
In the News
Following The New York Times' damaging reports of decades of sexual misconduct by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the Weinstein Company's board of directors announced Sunday that it had voted to terminate his employment with the independent film company he co-founded.
Weinstein is only the latest in a string of powerful men, such as Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, and Bill O'Reilly, whose careers have been compromised, if not derailed, by revelations of sexual harassment or worse.
Weinstein's fall from grace was more stunning because the scandal shed light on his hypocrisy; he started a foundation, ostensibly to support "women's rights, more women directors," all while allegedly abusing his power to force women to comply with his sexual demands.
Meanwhile, another prominent figure, Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, resigned last week after admitting that when he thought his mistress might be pregnant with his child, he pressured her to have an abortion, despite his public stance as a staunch proponent of the Pro-Life movement.
The behavior of both Weinstein and Murphy shows us that hypocrisy is not the exclusive domain of a particular group or political party, but a human condition to which all people are prone. But it is much easier to identify hypocrisy in people with whom we disagree than in people who are part of our tribe.
In an opinion piece for the National Review , Jonah Goldberg writes: "Both the Left and the Right are guilty of selective outrage. ... Because if you decry piggish behavior only when it helps your side, or if you think accusers are telling the truth only when they speak up about people you hate (or don't need professionally), then you don't actually care about sexual harassment."
Goldberg points out that even The New York Times, which broke the story, appears to have some 'splaining to do about why it did not release the piece written about Weinstein by then- Times reporter Sharon Waxman in 2004. The cover story that their information didn't rise to the level of journalistic evidence seems a little thin, if Waxman's claim is true that the paper scuttled her article after Weinstein expressed his displeasure.
Hypocrisy is often on display amongst many religious communities as well. Christians, especially of the Evangelical variety, are often seen as praying for the poor and needy and speaking out against injustice while supporting political candidates, movements, and policies that maintain a cyclical cycle of minority oppression. On the other end of the political spectrum liberals are often decried for preaching tolerance while remaining intolerant of right-leaning ideas.
Whether it is religion, politics, or social justice, we all need to work harder to practice what we preach.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Hypocrisy on Display in Hollywood and
in Politics: Responding With Anger and Humility.
Christianity Today
The Real Problem With Hypocrisy. The
New York Times
What About Hypocrites in the Church? Focus
on the Family
Inside the Mind of a Hypocrite. The
Atlantic
From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault:
Harvey Weinstein's Accusers Tell Their Stories.
The New Yorker
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Matthew 23:25-28
[Jesus said,] "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of
the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind
Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may
become clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are
full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the
outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness."
(For context, read 23:1-39.)
Jesus warned his disciples and others who came to hear him speak not to follow the example of those who didn't practice what they taught (vv. 1-3).
Then he spoke directly to those teachers, some of whom held themselves up as paragons of virtue, deriding them for making a show about their adherence to minor laws but neglecting major tenets of the law such as "justice and mercy and faith" (v. 23).
Jesus said that God defines righteousness as beginning on the inside, with the removal of greed, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, lawlessness, injustice, unbelief, lack of compassion and the like. It's what is in the heart of a person that makes one pure or impure.
Questions: What are the rules and laws that we attempt to abide by that are no more than cleaning “the outside of the cup” but leaving the inside dirty? Where do you see others judging you unfairly for seemingly impure behavior?
Luke 12:1-3
Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered
by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first
to his disciples, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their
hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret
that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will
be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be
proclaimed from the housetops."
(For context, read 11:37-54
and 12:1-3.)
In Luke 12:1-3, Jesus tells his disciples that the secrets of the Pharisees will not always be hidden. While people may not always detect the hypocrite's dishonesty, God is not fooled. God sees all, and will expose the hypocrite as a sinner at the judgment.
Sometimes sincerity and integrity become a form of yeast in society as well. People may change their opinion based on the example of others around them. In the story of the woman caught in adultery ( John 8:3-11), everyone is ready to stone her at first, but because of Jesus' words and actions and the way others in the crowd react, they change their attitude and, one by one, slink away.
Questions: In what way is hypocrisy like yeast? How can we avoid becoming like hypocrites we dislike? When have you seen the actions of one or more persons dramatically change a negative encounter into a positive experience? What does it take for a person to buck the prevailing wind of hypocrisy to reverse a downward spiral?
Romans 2:1-3
Therefore you have no excuse,
whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you
condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You
say, "We know that God's judgment on those who do such things is in accordance
with truth." Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those
who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of
God?
(For context, read 2:1-11.)
One of the hallmarks of hypocrisy is the presumption of the right to pass judgment on others, putting oneself in the place of God. Paul asserts that whenever we do this, we lift up God's standards as righteous, which means that if we violate those standards ourselves, we are acknowledging that God has the right to judge us by those same standards.
Questions: In what prevailing issues of today do you see people judging one another for the same sins they’re committing? How do you remind yourself to not judge others looking at yourself through the same lens?
Galatians 2:11-14, 21
But
when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood
self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with
the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for
fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy,
so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that
they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to
Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not
like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" ... I do
not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then
Christ died for nothing.
(For context, read 2:1-21.)
Paul writes that when he visited leaders of the mother church in Jerusalem, they made no demands other than to "remember the poor" (v. 10). They did not require that Gentiles convert to Judaism before they could become followers of Christ.
When Peter (Cephas) came to Antioch, he accepted the Gentiles as equals in Christ at first, demonstrating that acceptance by sharing meals with them. But when "certain people came from James" who held that Gentiles needed to be circumcised as Jews before they could become Christ-followers, Peter stopped associating with the Gentiles.
His inconsistent behavior contradicted the position he had taken previously, but worse than that, it contradicted the gospel of salvation by grace, the good news that "a person is justified notby the works of the law [such as circumcision] but through faith in Jesus Christ" (v. 16).
Questions: What is the relationship between hypocrisy and "[nullifying] the grace of God" (v. 21)? What is at stake when Christians live in ways that are not consistent with the gospel they claim to believe? What ways do we set ourselves apart from those we claim to love and want to help?
Prayer for the Human Family (BCP p.815)
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
