Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a story about a handsome, kindly Dr. Jekyll who discovered a drug that had the supernatural power to change a person’s personality. When taken, it immediately transformed him into Mr. Hyde, a monster who delighted in evil deeds. He spent the rest of his days living the double life of the good Dr. Jekyll and the evil Mr. Hyde until he killed himself in despair.
Not all Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes are in fiction. Some are alive today. There are some people who live a double life. On Sunday they are pious and religious. On Monday they are profane, dishonest, and evil.
Jesus called such people hypocrites. They are play actors, pretenders, phonies. In Luke 12:1-3 Jesus warns us against hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is a great sin. It is the one sin that Jesus condemned most frequently and most scathingly. His most biting indictments were not for the morally degenerate but for the religious phony. Jesus is the sinner’s friend but he has no use for the hypocrite until he gives up his pretense. On Judgment Day the hypocrite shall be unmasked. The veneer of his life shall be peeled off. Let us put aside all pretense and be honest and sincere with God and in all of life.