This is a picture that I took in Dade City, Florida, quite some time ago. In retrospect, I wish I had taken a larger one that didn't emphasize the sign quite so much, but, what is done is done. After considering the poor design and grammar of the message, it can be summarized as follows: America IS A HYPOCRITE!!! Name calling is an easy thing to do (and quite often very inappropriate), but what if the situation warrants it? Jesus did it. Read the following...
Matthew 23:13-36 NASB
(13) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
(14) ["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
(15) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
(16) "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.'
(17) "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
(18) "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'
(19) "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
(20) "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
(21) "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
(22) "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
(23) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
(24) "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
(25) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
(26) "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
(27) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
(28) "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(29) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
(13) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
(14) ["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
(15) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
(16) "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.'
(17) "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
(18) "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'
(19) "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
(20) "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
(21) "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
(22) "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
(23) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
(24) "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
(25) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
(26) "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
(27) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
(28) "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(29) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
(30) and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
(31) "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
(32) "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
(33) "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
(34) "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
(35) so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
(36) "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
(31) "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
(32) "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
(33) "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
(34) "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
(35) so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
(36) "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Jesus calls the Scribes and Pharisees "hypocrites" seven times in sixteen short verses. To my sensibilities, it seems a bit harsh; but then these were the religious leaders of the day and demanded greater scrutiny and accountability. Frankly, no one likes to be referred to in this manner, but if its justified, then IT IS APPROPRIATE!!!! Now, the picture at the top cites only one instance of supposed HYPOCRISY, but would it really be hard for us to list others? For example, we claim to be a free nation, but there has been a constant pattern of removing our freedoms for the last several decades. Even our elected officials ignore the constitution that our nation was founded on and consistently lead us on a path towards tyranny. Our representatives, taken as a collective body, have forsaken the faithful representation of their constituents and are irrevocably corrupt. Our nation is rotting from the inside out and the average person (like myself) feels that there is not one thing we can do to change things. I know that I am wrong to feel this way, but it is what it is. However, I do intellectually know that God can change things and I have an obligation to seek HIS intervention through the medium of prayer.
Father in heaven, purify this nation. Remove the rampant sin that corrupts us and focus our minds, our hearts and lives to do your will and not our own!!! Help us to honestly face our situation, both personally and collectively- and do what we can to effect change. Help us to be as straightforward as Jesus and honestly call Sin, Sin!!! For we pray through Jesus; AMEN!!!