“But what if I don’t feel like….” We could all finish the sentence: apologizing for something we did or did not do, speaking to someone with whom we are at odds, helping someone who has a history of being unkind to us. Maybe the excuse is, “Aren’t I a hypocrite if my heart isn’t in it?”
Let us be honest with ourselves: In our dealings with others, we all encounter situations we would rather not face. But rising above our emotions is exactly what the Bible requires of us. How we feel about someone or something is not as important as how we act when confronted by a distasteful or difficult situation.
We are quickly approaching a sacred time of the year—the Passover, followed by the Days of Unleavened Bread. In that light, the purpose of this article is to examine the biblical truth that not only is it not hypocritical to do what we don’t feel like doing, but also that, in fact, we are truly being hypocritical when we only do what we feel like doing.
Two Great Commandments
There is nothing more fundamental to Scripture and to our calling as Christians than how we conduct ourselves toward others—first of all toward God Himself and then toward our fellow human beings. When Jesus was asked, “Which is the great commandment in the law?,” He responded, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).
Dr. Roderick C. Meredith often instructed us to study the laws and statutes found in the first five books of the Bible. It is evident that this was something the early apostles did. Take for example how Paul drew a principle by comparing how oxen were to be properly cared for and how brethren were to care for the ministry financially. “For it is written in the law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.’ Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope” (1 Corinthians 9:9–10).
Just as Paul drew understanding from the statutes, we must do the same, and we can learn a lot from how they teach us to care for animals. Here is a different lesson that also mentions oxen.
You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother…. You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself. You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again (Deuteronomy 22:1, 3–4).
And the statutes and judgments recorded at Mt. Sinai state the principle even more broadly. It applies not just to a brother, but also to an enemy, or to someone who hates us. To all such people, we are shown to have an obligation: “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it” (Exodus 23:4–5).
Our carnal human nature may get in the way of our doing a good deed. But, as we see from this passage, we are to show mercy to an animal suffering under a heavy burden, even if it belongs to an enemy. It is not good enough to hide our eyes—to turn our heads away. Does this not agree with what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount?
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:43–48).
The Israelites of old were carnal—they did not possess God’s Holy Spirit. They nevertheless were to act out of concern for others, even if it meant acting against their emotions. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:17–18).
Let Go of the Past
How sad it is when those who supposedly have God’s Spirit cling to hurts and carry grudges for days, weeks, or even years. If this even remotely applies to us, we need to remember what we agreed to at baptism—and we must fervently ask God to help us overcome such feelings.
Virtually all people we counsel have Romans 6 read to them before baptism, explaining that baptism is the figurative death and burial of the old person and the coming up to a new life—which, of course, portrays what Christ literally did for us. We must read these words carefully, letting them sink in so that they can motivate us to action.
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Romans 6:2–6).
It is human nature to hold grudges. Forgiveness does not come easy. Yet we must overcome the old man and become a new man, with the Spirit of Christ in us. That is why Dr. Meredith considered Galatians 2:20 to be the best single statement of what it means to be a true follower of Christ.
The so-called “Lord’s Prayer,” a sample outline, tells us that we should ask for God’s forgiveness of our transgressions. But notice that there is a caveat. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Yes, if we want our sins forgiven, we must also forgive others. It is significant that in His prayer outline Jesus elaborated on only that one point—the importance of forgiving. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14–15).
Luke adds a small but important detail: “And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). No, we cannot pick and choose those we forgive and those we do not! As we enter the Passover season, it is vital that we understand forgiveness.
True Christianity
In many ways, this world’s “Christianity” is a selfish religion. People say much about what Christ has done for them, but not about what they do for Christ. Of course, whatever love we show to Him, He has already shown to us in far greater measure—but most nominal Christians lack the understanding that we must respond to God’s forgiveness.
They also lack a proper understanding of the meaning of Passover. Few understand that the One who thundered the Ten Commandments from Mt. Sinai was the One who emptied Himself and became known as Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5–8). They do not even understand the definition of sin (1 John 3:4). They may strive to keep some of the commandments, but their eyes are not opened to the true seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Holy Days. They instead violate God’s Sabbath and celebrate heathen traditions handed down to them.
Over the years, I have met many people who were baptized in a worldly church before becoming interested in God’s Church. Some thought they were “okay” with God and felt only that they had been worshipping on the wrong day. Others thought that, since they had been baptized earlier, they had no need to be baptized again—failing to realize that they had never repented of the sin of following Satan and his ministry (2 Corinthians 11:4, 13–15; Revelation 17:1–5).
Truly, while some nominal Christians understand to some degree the meaning of Passover, they almost universally fail to understand the Feast of Unleavened Bread—our response to God’s great sacrifice. To learn more about the Father’s part in this, see our booklet John 3:16: Hidden Truths of the Golden Verse.
Who Crucified Christ?
Our Creator did not only die for our sins—He allowed Himself to be brutally beaten, spit upon, and called every name in the book. Yet it is for those very people who treated Him so despicably that He died. Some of those loudly chanting “Crucify Him!” were likely there on the Day of Pentecost when Peter declared, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).
We should put ourselves in their shoes. No wonder “they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (v. 37). False Christianity has for generations blamed the Jews for Christ’s death. People of all races and nationalities have failed to realize that it was they themselves—yes, it is each one of us—bearing the guilt of abusing and finally crucifying our Creator. Christ died for the sins of all. That makes every one of us individually guilty.
It is easy to read over familiar scriptures without meditating on how they affect us. We know what they say. We may even be able to quote them. But what have we failed to deeply comprehend? We should all carefully read and consider the following: “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6–8).
For those of us who grew up Catholic, Protestant, or in some other professing Christian religion—or in the Church of God—it may not be easy to accept that we were enemies of God and subject to His wrath. However, that was exactly the state of our lives until we came to repentance, accepted Christ’s sacrifice, and began allowing Christ to transform us by His Spirit. “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:9–10).
Understand: The death of Christ reconciles us to God, but it is the life of Christ that saves us. This is where Galatians 2:20 comes in. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of [of—not in] the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (King James Version).
Passover pictures the supreme sacrifice whereby the blood of our Creator was shed to pay for our sins and reconcile us to God (1 Peter 1:18–19; Colossians 1:15–18). The Days of Unleavened Bread reveal that our response to Christ’s sacrifice must be to come out of sin and be baptized (Acts 2:38). Pentecost then shows us that we must have the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9) in us to transform us. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
And transformation is what we need. It is our nature to nurse hurts and to harbor a desire to “get even.” It is not easy to let go of such feelings. Sometimes human cruelty affects us terribly and very personally. For instance, some of us may have experienced abuse as children—physically, sexually, or emotionally—and the pain of that can create life-long burdens we must carry. In such grievous circumstances, forgiveness can be truly difficult. Yet, as we grow to fully embrace the profound truth we committed to at baptism—that “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us”—it dramatically affects how we think and act. And while others are often content to let their actions be determined by their very natural hard feelings against those who have hurt them so severely, we will find that as Christ increasingly lives in us we will desire to remove even that leaven from our hearts and minds (1 Corinthians 5:7–8; Matthew 5:44).
A Practical Example
Marriage is a wonderful institution ordained by God, but too many couples who started out “in love” have “fallen out of love.” How often we hear things like, “I just don’t love him anymore,” or “I just don’t feel about her the way I used to.” Is such a marriage doomed to failure? Not at all, if we apply God’s instructions.
The apostolic era of the Church lost its first love, but God said that the Ephesians could get it back. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Revelation 2:5). Note that it does not say, “wait until the loving feelings return,” but instead commands us to take action—to do the first works, to go back to doing the things we once did. When we show love, the feelings will follow.
A Covenant with God
When we were baptized, we made a covenant with God that we would put to death the old self and come up as a new person. We recognized our guilt in abusing and murdering the sinless Son of God. If He can forgive our multitude of sins, how much more must we forgive others for the hurt—no matter how great—that they have brought upon us?
So, are we hypocrites for doing something good to someone when we really don’t feel it in our hearts? Not at all. Love is an action. It may be accompanied by feelings—but in many cases, the feelings we think of as “love” come after we practice loving actions. Real hypocrisy comes when we profess to commit to a new way of life in Christ yet fail to act as He acts.
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind…. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:17, 20–24).
Don’t wait for the feelings before you act—act first, and the love of God in your heart will then follow. That is what Paul meant when he wrote, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).