Roots by the River

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” Matthew 23:13-15 Hypocrites have been around a long time. According to many people, “the church is full of hypocrites.” That might be true. Certainly some hypocrites are there. Where else would they be? Today, people talk about hypocrites in the third person and in a general way. They do not name the hypocrites. That would not be polite or politically correct. It would also take courage. Jesus was specific in the second person; “you hypocrite” and He gave the reasons. People do not pretend to be bad. They are bad. People are hypocritical in the direction that they think is good. They d...