Hypocrisy stunts growth because it obscures both our actual state and our ideal state. When we are hypocritical, we not only fail to acknowledge our weaknesses (our current state), but we also assume that we know what we should be (our future state).
Isaiah prophesied that God would perform a marvelous work in response to our hypocrisy:
The Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Isaiah 29:13-14; see also 2 Nephi 27:25-26
Obviously, if our fear toward Him is “taught by the precept of men,” then we are artificially lowering our standards, failing to grasp His vision of what we can become. A “marvelous work,” something we can’t explain, may jolt us out of our complacency.
Teenagers are particularly good at sensing hypocrisy. As a fourteen-year-old, Joseph Smith gravitated to religion but was unconvinced by the rhetoric of the religious leaders in his community. “The seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more pretended than real,” he observed. “All their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions” (Joseph Smith—History 1:6, italics added).
So the Savior’s words about hypocrisy in the Sacred Grove matched Joseph’s actual experience: “They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof” (Joseph Smith—History 1:19).
“Deny not the power of God,” warned Moroni at the end of the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10:7). He added that if we deny not God’s power, then we can be “sanctified in Christ by the grace of God” (Moroni 10:33).
Today, I will avoid hypocrisy by acknowledging my weaknesses and by accepting guidance from God. I will recognize that my perception of my own potential is flawed and that I need God’s help to understand what I can become with His help.
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