Skip to content

Sivin Kit's Garden

Planting Seeds for a Better World

Menu
  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing
Menu

Hypocrisy Re-visited

Posted on 29 May, 2003 by admin

We were knocked out by Acts chapter 5 especially on the death of Ananias and Sapphira at my LiFE Group meeting last night. It seems so strange for two people to die because they “lied to the Holy Spirit”. Could it be we’ve been toying with this fuzzy-wuzzy-let-me-do-what-I-want-with-no-consequences-god (now that’s a mouthful)?

My friend & mentor Robert Brow’s Commentary (for the full commentary go to ACTS OF THE APOSTLES COMMENTARY) was helpful,
“The story is very upsetting. A couple sold some property (as did Barnabas in 4:36-37) and they gave part of it as a donation to the church in Jerusalem. The problem is that they had agreed to pretend they had given the whole amount of the proceeds to God’s work. They were not required to give anything, and it would have been acceptable for them to say they were only giving a part of the proceeds for the work of the community (5:4). So Peter accuses them of lying to the Holy Spirit by trying to deceive the church community, “You did not lie to us but to God” (5:4).

The couple both died, presumably from a heart attack (5:5, 10). And what triggered the heart attack seems to have been the shock of their hypocrisy being exposed in the community. Whatever the cause of death, the important lesson for the early church was that hypocrisy is a deadly cancer in the body of the church. If the various organs of our human body ever began deceiving one another, we would quickly die. “

Hypocrisy(i.e. pretending to be what we aren’t) is one contagious disease that requires “eradication” from my life and the community i live in. But, I think Christians have gotten an unfair amount of bashing related to this word. here’s where Brow made an interesting comment later,
“It is interesting that outsiders fault Christians for being hypocrites, forgetting that there are hypocrites among politicians, salesmen, teachers, doctors, and many parents.” (for more go to Rights and Wrongs chapter 3).

Hypocrisy is a disease that can affect all walks of life .. from the family to the wider society. The antidote is IMHO HONESTY to oursleves and others and HUMILITY to change and be changed for the better!

2 thoughts on “Hypocrisy Re-visited”

  1. Sigrun says:
    29 May, 2003 at 6:44 pm

    Thank you for getting me to refocus on this. Yes, how true and relevant. I think being hypocritical is definitely part of my character in that I have a need to please others/fit in/be ‘acceptable’. So sometimes it is hard to know if one is acting how one is or how one wants to be/what one wants to project. It is the ‘politician’ in us. Believe it or not, David’s nature is definitely not one of hypocracy- that has definitely delayed his career progress in the early years. So he is much safer from this demon. May Chin is also a good example to me in what a ‘true and forthright’ person is like. It is a very worthwhile thing to pray for in relation to our church body- that we remain to serve truthfully. We are not actors on God’s stage; we are servants of the truth.

  2. petra says:
    4 June, 2003 at 9:30 am

    Very challenging, yet again. Amasing how I (all the way over here in Australia) have also recently been realising again the subtle lies I tell, to `make everything better’, like…, `I finally got my phone charger back so I can call!’ when I actually got it back 2 weeks ago. (I was about to do this when I realised it’s false and stopped) Really that’d be hypocricy too- it’s implying `I’m such a good friend, I call when I can’ instead of being honest and saying ‘sorry i didn’t call sooner’, it’s not being fully true and honest.
    Just thinking now of something a mentor once instilled in us as young people – to be H.I.T men and women, ones with Honesty, Integrity, and Transperancy. It’s the best way to be. Good to consider, and now a challenge to apply. Only with God’s help is it possible. Lord help me, help us.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Sivin Kit’s Adventures …
  • Moved to Medium
  • The End | The Beginning
  • I Will be Back …
  • It’s Been a While …

Recent Comments

  • Sivin Kit on Project 365: A photo a day for 2010 – Pilot
  • Malaysia: Government Vows to Review Web Censorship Law After Protest · Global Voices on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • List of Participants in Internet Blackout Day! « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • Join Us and Support Internet Blackout Day « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • JB on Imagining My PhD Journey

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

CALENDAR

May 2003
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Apr   Jun »
  • Academics
  • Bangsar Lutheran Church
  • Beyond
  • Bible
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Christian Year – Lent
  • Church
  • Conversations
  • Emergent/Emerging Churches
  • Events
  • Family
  • Five Sentences
  • Friends in Conversation
  • Fun stuff
  • Gracious Christianity
  • Ideas
  • Images
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Lists
  • Lutheran
  • Lutheran Church in Malaysia & Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Meditation
  • Micah Mandate
  • Mission
  • Movies
  • Music
  • New Stuff
  • Norway
  • Norwegian Notes
  • Personal
  • Philosophy
  • Podcast
  • Preaching
  • Prezi
  • Project 365
  • Random Links
  • Random Thoughts
  • Random Tweets
  • Random Utterances
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • RoH Malaysia
  • Second Thoughts
  • Seven Series
  • Simple Steps
  • Spirituality
  • Technology
  • Theology
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • World
  • Worship
  • Writing

Archives

  • November 2023
  • November 2020
  • November 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • June 2003
  • May 2003
  • April 2003
  • February 2003
  • August 2002

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Pages

  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing

Social Media

© 2025 Sivin Kit's Garden | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme