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Matthew 23:27-28
“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. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
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As we discussed here and here, the scribes and Pharisees are a particularly robust case study of narcissists. They were experts at putting on a righteous act – partly for show, and partly because they actually believed it (see here) – while in reality being rebellious in their hearts toward God.
2 Timothy 3:5 – holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
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The key to detecting this is to
- watch what they do, and compare it to what they say, and
- watch what they do in public vs. what they do in private.
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Matthew 23:1-5
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
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Please see Putting “Biblical Perspectives On Narcissism” Into Perspective for an overview of what this blog is about