Based on a sermon on Mark 7:1-23 by Pastor Michael Leader of Beverly Hills Baptist Church

You know the feeling. A headline drops, and your blood boils.

A children’s entertainer caught in a scandal. A respected community leader exposed for a secret crime. A charity CEO caught stealing from the cause.

It’s not just the crime that makes us angry. It’s the hypocrisy. The gaping chasm between the person we thought they were and the person they really are.

It’s the mask. And it’s something Jesus had a lot to say about.

A performance of piety

The scene is set in Mark 7. A group of religious leaders, the Pharisees, have traveled from Jerusalem to see Jesus. But instead of being in awe, they’re offended.

Why? Because Jesus’ disciples ate food without first performing a ceremonial hand-washing.

This wasn’t about hygiene. This was about tradition. A rule they had created, a public performance of holiness that had nothing to do with God’s actual commands. They were experts at looking good on the outside.

It’s easy to make up rules you can keep. It’s much harder to deal with what’s really going on inside.

The heart of the matter

The Pharisees point the finger, criticising the disciples for breaking their man-made rules. It’s a classic move: focus on someone else’s small external failure to avoid looking at your own massive internal one.

But Jesus cuts straight through the performance.

He calls them hypocrites, quoting the prophet Isaiah: “These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Then he gets to the heart of it. He says it’s not what goes into a person that makes them unclean. It’s what comes out.

“For from within,” Jesus says, “out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.”

This is the real problem. Not dirty hands, but dirty hearts. And no amount of religious rule-following can wash that clean.

The only thing that cleans

Let’s get real. We all have a heart problem. Whether we are the Pharisee with the perfect public image or the tax collector who everyone knows is a sinner, we all fall short. We are all unclean on the inside.

So what can wash away our sin?

“Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

That’s the gospel. It’s not about trying harder to look good. It’s about admitting we are not good and accepting the grace that makes us truly clean.

Take off the mask

Think of it like this. When you take a shower, you don’t walk around all day announcing, “Hey everyone, I’m clean!” You just are. You carry on with your day.

But if you’re dirty, no amount of pretending will convince anyone otherwise. You need to get back in the shower.

It’s the same with faith. If you have been made clean in Christ, you don’t have to prove it. You don’t need to perform or wear a mask. You can just be. And if you stumble – if you get dirty – you don’t pretend. You go back to God’s endless grace and get clean again.

Stop worrying about the externals. Be honest with God and with yourself. Focus on your heart.

He’ll take care of the rest.