As I listened to the sermon this past Sunday, I was rooting for Jesus. He was berating the Pharisees and lawyers about their hypocritical lifestyles and religious practices. "You set em straight Jesus" was my silent response as the sermon was preached. "They deserve the 6 woes and more. They are blind to their religious pride". Oh yeah, I was getting my groove on. I was secretly thanking God that "I am not like the Pharisees or lawyers".

Then Debbie Steiner was called up to pray. And her prayers just cut me in half. I don't remember every detail of her prayer, but to summarize Debbie prayed that God would show us our hypocrisy and enable us to more readily give grace. A prayer that calls us to acknowledge that we are much like the Pharisees because we are all afflicted with the same disease of hypocrisy. My own hypocritical heart was laid bare.  I felt so naked. I saw myself in the shoes of the Pharisee arguing vehemently with Jesus trying vainly to defend my religious practices as righteous. But the bottom line, no matter how you cut it, I was guilty of hypocrisy and much more. And I discovered that hypocrisy is so subtle you don't know it there. I also realize there is no natural antidote. It is hard to shake an hypocritical image and tendencies that I secretly enjoy. I want my cake and eat it to. I want Jesus but I want to be able to point out sins of others. (yeah ... you blast them good Jesus).  

In the classic movie "Taxi Driver" Robert Deniro plays a Travis Bickle, a who fought in the Vietnam War. Rejected and depressed, Bickle begins to turn violent. Disgusted by what he witnesses while driving through the city, he decides to get organized and start getting in shape. He buys a number of pistols from an illegal dealer and practices a menacing speech in the mirror, while pulling out a pistol that he attached to a home-made sliding action holster on his left arm he utters the famous words ... "you talking to me" repeatedly. That was the image in my mind when I heard Debbie's prayer. Looking in the mirror of my heart and asking Jesus "are you talking to me"? Surely not. Not me. Not this Christian. Not this Pastor. Not this father, husband, and provider. Certainly not me? But Jesus was talking to me! And I confess I am guilty of hypocrisy daily.

But thank God I found and antidote. It is found in Luke 18:13. A tax collector praying a humbling prayer ...  "Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner". I prayed this on the way home Sunday after church. And I have attempted to pray this simple prayer 2-3 times per day. Needless to say, it reminds me of my deep need for Jesus and less dependence on self-justification. It keeps pride at bay and hypocrisy in divine perspective. I guess you could say I get to full of myself and the Luke 18:13 is my daily relief valve. What's your relief value from hypocrisy?