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Hypocrisy is one of the most dangerous passions. It is very difficult to identify it within yourself. To fight this vice, you need to understand its essence.
The holy fathers and teachers of the Church - St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, St. John Climacus, St. Maxim the Confessor, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov - wrote a lot about hypocrisy as a vice.
But first, let’s look at how the word “hypocrisy” is defined in public dictionaries.
In Vladimir Dahl’s dictionary: “To be a hypocrite, to assume a guise, to be two-faced, to act feignedly, to deceive with appearances, to pretend to be humble, to be hypocritical, to flatter one of one’s own species. A hypocritical act is feigned, where evil is hidden under the guise of goodness, vice under the guise of virtue.”
In the Dictionary of Ethics: “Hypocrisy is a negative moral quality, consisting in the fact that a pseudo-moral meaning is attributed to a deliberately immoral act (committed for the sake of selfish interests, for base motives).
In the Biblical Encyclopedia: “Hypocrisy (Matt. VII. 5) is a sin against the second commandment, consisting in when outward works of piety, such as fasting and strict observance of rituals, are used to gain the respect of the people, without thinking about the internal correction of one’s heart.” .
In these definitions, hypocrisy is defined as a vice.
The first reaction to hypocrisy is negative, and this is understandable. Hypocrisy is always a lie. On the contrary, the reaction to sincerity is always positive and approving. But in fact, there are lies for good and rarely, but sometimes, sincerity for evil. It all depends on why this or that action is performed.
The vicious goals of hypocrisy: the thirst for acquiring worldly values, respect, power. The desire to look better than you think about yourself.
Good goals of hypocrisy: getting out of conflict situations, the desire to look worse than you think about yourself, educational goals, developing virtuous habits through imitation. These goals become virtuous if they are set by a person for the sake of Christ.
Hypocrisy as a vice
Let's consider hypocrisy as a vice. The Gospel often talks about how important the struggle against the sin of hypocrisy is for a person’s spiritual ascent. The Lord warns about the danger of this vice. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known” (Luke 12:1-2), “Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied well about you, saying: “This people draws near to me with their lips and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Matt. 15:7-8). Jesus Christ also warns about future hypocrites: “For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. Then, if anyone tells you: behold, here is Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matt. 24:5, 23-24) That is, hypocrisy is the discrepancy between external manifestations and the deep (spiritual) aspirations of a person.
It is possible to be a hypocrite before other people, before yourself, but you cannot be a hypocrite before God. This is impossible. Setting an example of how not to become infected with this disease, the Lord did not allow people to talk about the healings He performed. He said that correct prayer should not be for show. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners, so that they may appear before people. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not say too much, like the pagans, for they think that in their many words they will be heard; Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6: 5-8) The Apostle Paul spoke about the same thing. “Do you have faith? Have it within yourself, before God” (Rom. 14:22). The Lord advises not to be a hypocrite even before yourself. “But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). Also the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians: “For whoever thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3).
The Lord advises to beware of hypocrites: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:15)
When the Lord speaks about children and babies, He sets an example for us, adults (“wise and prudent”), their simplicity and sincerity: “... and said: Verily I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom Heavenly; So whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:3-5). “Then the children were brought to Him, so that He could lay His hands on them and pray; the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said: “Let the little children come and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. And he laid his hands on them and went away from there” (Matt. 19:13-15).
Hypocrites have someone to follow by example. The main hypocrite, hypocrite and liar is Satan. He proved this when he deceived Eve. This is what he is doing now. Judas also showed an example of hypocrisy and lies when he betrayed Christ with his kiss. In the Gospel, Satan is called the evil one, but the vice of wickedness is hypocrisy.
The vice of hypocrisy is life according to the flesh. When a person lives according to the flesh, it is impossible not to be a hypocrite. What is considered success in the world (wisdom, wealth, strength) and for the sake of which one is hypocritical, is considered wicked by the Spirit of God. “I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh; they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you would like...”
“And God chose the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.” (1 Cor., I, 28) “They blaspheme us, we pray; We are like the rubbish of the world, like dust trampled underfoot by everyone" (1 Cor. IV, 13)
The Apostle Paul warned the brethren against hypocrites, who “with flattery and eloquence deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:18).
The Gospel constantly speaks of unfeigned love, unfeigned faith, unfeigned brotherly love: “Let love be unfeigned; turn away from evil and cleave to what is good” (Rom. 12:9). “But in everything we demonstrate ourselves...in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love” (2 Cor. 6:4,6), “Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned brotherly love, continually love one another with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22).
The Holy Fathers also singled out the vice of hypocrisy among other vices. Saint Gregory of Nyssa noted the particular danger of hypocrisy among other human vices in his work “On the Life of Moses the Lawgiver or on the Perfection of Virtue.” As one of the types of hypocrisy, he writes about arrogance, that is, the vice of a high opinion of oneself, in contrast to humility and poverty of spirit. In his work it is said about this: “... the enemy, so skilled in inventing against, comes to mind a different kind of sin, which can still be seen in many people today. Some of those who, through a wise life, have subdued their addictions to lusts, begin to covet the priesthood, insulting the plan of God with their purely human dependence and arbitrary zeal (Num. 16: 1-3) ... they decided that they themselves were stronger than poisonous bites, and instead addiction to lust, the disease of arrogance has entered into them... Not without reason it can be argued that arrogance takes a person to the “height” of the abyss... it is impossible to reject such a definition: arrogance is the deepest fall... And if you have overcome pleasures, this does not mean that you are not subject to a different kind of passion... Both the one who slipped on the surface of pleasure and the one who stumbled on the bandwagon of arrogance fell.”
The Monk Simeon the New Theologian warns about the danger of hypocrisy: “How is it possible that someone who seeks primacy and strives to stand in front of everyone in the church and sit above everyone else at the table should ever grieve and cry before God for his soul, and because of this he always fighting and sad? Likewise, the one who, inventing excuses for his sins, assures that he is weak and weak, while he is healthy and strong and young, and, comparing himself in church with those who have worked hard and spent many years in asceticism, says: what I am shorter than such and such that he leans (on a staff) or crouches on a stasidia. How can such a person recognize the weakness of his soul in order to groan about it from the depths of his heart, come to tenderness and shed tears from his eyes? Further, he writes that it is impossible to achieve anything in spiritual endeavors, all the time comparing oneself with one’s brothers and paying attention to one’s own merits. Such states of grace as tenderness, heartfelt contrition, and heartfelt crying cannot come to a person who has hypocritical and vain thoughts and actions.
We also find a discussion about hypocrisy in St. John, abbot of Mount Sinai, in his “Ladder”: “Hypocrisy is the mother of lies, and often it is also the reason for it. For some argue that hypocrisy is nothing more than teaching in lies and the inventor of lies, with which worthy execution and oath are intertwined.” And he adds about vanity, defining it as ungodly exaltation. “Bad vanity teaches us to assume an image of virtue that is not in us.” You can be conceited in front of other people and in front of yourself. St. John describes the danger of vanity in front of oneself. “The sun shines on everyone without distinction; out of vanity he rejoices in all virtues. For example: I become vain when I fast; but when I allow fasting in order to hide my abstinence from people, I again become vain. I will begin to speak, I will be overcome by vanity, I will remain silent, and again I will be overcome by it. No matter how you throw this three-horn, one horn will always go up.” And gives medicines against this disease. He writes that vanity can be destroyed by keeping one’s lips and accepting dishonor, humiliating oneself before people without any sorrow, fleeing from all glory, constantly remembering the holy fear and trembling with which it is necessary to stand in prayer to God, mortal memory. He advises at least to be afraid of the shame that follows vanity.
Saint John singled out hypocrisy among other passions: “Just as, when drawing water from springs, we sometimes unnoticedly scoop up a toad along with the water, so often performing deeds of virtue, we secretly fulfill the passions intertwined with them. For example, gluttony is intertwined with love of love, fornication with love, deceit with reasoning, cunning with wisdom, subtle guile, slowness and laziness, backbiting, self-indulgence and disobedience with meekness; the arrogance of teaching is intertwined with silence; with joy - exaltation, with hope - weakening, with love - again condemnation of your neighbor, with silence - despondency and laziness, with purity - a feeling of grief, with humility - insolence. Vanity clings to all these virtues, like a kind of general collurium, or, more accurately, poison.” When working to eradicate passions, Saint John warns about the effect of hypocrisy: “Some, I don’t know why (for I have not learned with my opinion to be curious and test about the gifts of God), so to speak, are by nature inclined towards abstinence, or silence, or purity, or modesty, or meekness, or tenderness. For others, their very nature resists these good qualities, but they force themselves to them; and although sometimes they are defeated, I praise them more than the first, as enforcers of nature.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov paid a lot of attention to the fight against this vice in his works: “The main distinguishing feature of a hypocrite, the first arrow he shoots at his neighbor, is temptation and the condemnation of his neighbor flowing from temptation.” The saint has a separate work devoted to this topic: “Teaching on Wednesday of the first week of Lent. About the dangers of hypocrisy." Looking into the core of this sin, he wrote: “Hypocrisy is constantly and everywhere next to the ascetic during his ascetic deeds. For example: “It is present with the ascetic during his fasting, during his prayer, during his almsgiving, during his vigils, during his kneeling, trying to delight the sacrifice offered to God, and, having desecrated it with man-pleasing, to make it obscene. It pursues the servant of Christ in the solitude of his cell, in his seclusion; not being able to provide the ascetic with soul-destroying praise from outside spectators, he brings him praise in his thoughts, draws and seductively depicts human glory in his imagination...”
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Homo dependent
Life in society leaves a mark on a person depending on the opinions of others. There is a legal framework, a moral law and a personal moralizer - the conscience of each person. In addition, there is the opinion of the majority - be it at the country level or a small team. Each person, one way or another, depends on what they think of him.
Only hermits and hermits managed to completely renounce this. They deliberately moved away from the world so that nothing would prevent them from moving towards God (Mary of Egypt spent 47 years away from people). But modern man cannot completely isolate himself, and God does not expect this. The problem begins the moment a person becomes vulnerable and tries to look better than he really is.
Instead of accepting reality, a person goes into the category of appearance. That is, he immediately follows the wrong path: he does not change internally, but only “mows” from the outside. What to wear, say, read, see, where to go - a person tries not to correspond to his tastes and values, but to what others think about him. And definitely something good. And it should look no worse than others, and, preferably, even better.
Let's take a closer look at the human structure and the essence of hypocrisy.
Between uniqueness and sociality
God created every person unique. We are distinguished by our appearance, timbre of voice, and talents. We are complete in ourselves, we have our own opinion. However, we also have a social mission. “It was not good for Adam to be alone,” the Lord created Eve. A person does not live on his own, but among other people, and is constantly exposed to their influence.
Both are natural for each of us, the only problem is how the person himself relates to it. Excessive individualization can lead to pride, and perversion of socialization can lead to the sin of hypocrisy. Both are the specialization of the evil one.
***
When you once again ask yourself the question “what will others think of me” and catch yourself lying, think that God knows your thoughts, words, and actions. He knows how you live, what you complain about, whether you act sincerely or not.
The person you meet only sees you from the outside and hears what is said, but God knows what is happening in every cell of your body... but does not interfere, giving you the opportunity to correct yourself. God made us originals. So why do we turn ourselves into cheap imitations through hypocrisy?
Personality Disintegration: “Private Me” vs. “Public Me”
What is hypocrisy? This is pretense, the desire to look better in the eyes of others. A person loses integrity: now he plays one role, in 15 minutes he will try on another mask, then a third... “I-in-private” and “I-in-public” are very often two different figures. What does this lead to? Changing guise after guise, we forget what our real face is.
A strict teacher is coming. You need to smile and say hello, because you are taking an exam with him. And the thought is already flashing in my head: what a bastard! Met interesting people. I just want to look better in their eyes.
A hypocrite constantly wonders: what will others think of me? What if it's bad? We must quickly save the situation! Since you won’t be able to change internally in a short time, you need to put on another mask. That’s why you get angry at a teacher or colleague behind your back, but in your face you’re kind to the point of nausea.
Similar temptations befall believers. When we start going to church and make friends with other parishioners, we also worry about what they will think of us. It is a shame to confess to a priest we know, because he will recognize our sins and understand that we are not at all white and fluffy as we seemed, but dirty and disgusting.
Another manifestation of hypocrisy is the game “I’m no worse,” which is loved by both children and adults. This often reaches the point of absurdity: parents shell out huge amounts of money for kindergarten graduation, although this does not at all correspond to the family budget. It’s okay that they don’t go anywhere on vacation, live without repairs for decades and eat rather modestly, but everyone should see that they are no worse! And then, when children grow up to be selfish, they shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: “The sin of hypocrisy? No, I didn’t see it.”
