Mark 7:6-7 (HCSB) 6 He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees.  They strutted – as one preacher said – even when they were sitting down.  We all know some obvious hypocrites.  Their talk and their walk do not match.  They do not live the convictions that they profess. We’ve all had friends who betrayed our trust, colleagues who were two-faced, those whose sole purpose was to use our generous nature.  These things hurt, but they are a part of life.  These people exists. The question is not about the hypocrites; they will still be around when Jesus comes.  The question is two-fold:             How will I respond to hypocrites?             Will I choose to be a hypocrite? First how should we respond to the hypocrites?  We don’t allow them to destroy us.  We maintain our integrity and our faith in God and we do not allow them to destroy our witness or our enthusiasm.  How do we maintain our integrity?  We continue to live according to Scripture.  We do not sin in retaliation; we do not respond to them the way they have responded to us.  If they lie, we do not fight their lies with lies of our own.  We do not play games.  Jesus only concerned Himself with the hypocrites when they confronted Him or their evil works crossed His path.  He kept His focus on the main thing:  spreading the Gospel.  He didn’t take the fight to them, but He never backed down when they approached Him.  He confronted their false doctrine and their wicked ways.  He was direct and open; and He always referred to the Scripture.  Let the Lord fight your battles; and when necessary, get involved (without fear) yourself. One more thing.  If you are a person who does not get involved in church or other Christian activities because of hypocrites, you have become a hypocrite.  You cannot profess Jesus and refuse to associate with His Church (Hebrews 10:25).  You cannot profess to be a Believer and refuse to serve other Believers or the lost. Jesus said, “In as much as you have or have not done it to the least of these – so have you treated Me.” Will I choose to be a hypocrite?  There are many Scriptural examples – men and women of God – who could have chosen to compromise in order to get ahead in this life.  Esther did not have to risk her life to save the Jewish people.  David did not have to obey God and run from Saul.  Paul could have been a secret Believer and just stopped killing Christians.  Niccodemus didn’t have to come out of the closet and bury Jesus.  John didn’t have to follow Christ to the cross.  John the Baptist could have kept his head and just avoided the issue of Herod’s wife. We say with Joshua, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” We choose to say with Daniel, “I have made up my mind to stand for Christ.” We say with the young lady at Columbine High, “Yes, I believe.” We say with the Psalmist, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere…” Or We take the other side and damage the cause of Christ. We stand for nothing and fall for everything. We allow the devil to be victorious in our lives. We say that we care more about our own comfort than we do the One Who died for us. Jesus said, “Either you are with me or against me.” Luke 11:23 (HCSB) 23 Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters. The fields are white unto Harvest.  As a result of the Crossover effort last year in Greensboro, North Carolina 832 souls will be in heaven because over 1000 Believers took to the streets and spread the Gospel.  What are you doing?  Are you scattering or gathering?  The choice is yours – so is the reward.