Lexicon: Hypocrite

The word "hypocrite" is a transliteration of the Greek ὑποκριτής. We often assign an English meaning to it as "one who says one thing and does another." Jesus says this very thing of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, so we conclude that this is what it must mean. The problem is that they are also called ὑποκριταί for putting on a show before men in Matthew 6. This is because the word actually doesn't primarily refer to someone who just has contradictory beliefs or practices in the Synoptics. Instead, the word actually means "actor," "pretender," "fake." It references the fact that they pretend to know God, but by their deeds they evidence that they do not know Him, and therefore, are not a part of the covenant community. Certainly, a contradiction between what one teaches and does is a sign of being a false believer, but the word itself does not refer to this contradiction directly as much as the contradiction makes reference to the fact that such works may show one to be a fake believer.

The reason why this is important to understand is that many people think that if believers sin they are somehow hypocrites in the biblical sense. This would mean, of course, that every believer is a Pharisaical hypocrite.

What is worse, is that our culture assigns its own morality to believers and then calls them hypocrites for not performing according to their standards. Again, the word simply refers to people who do not really know God but are pretending that they do. One can be a hypocrite in the modern sense then and still be a Christian, but to be a hypocrite in the Gospels means that one is not a true believer. The word really shouldn't be thrown around in this sort of equivocating manner then unless one means to say that modern Christians aren't Christians at all.