Why is it that Democrats are all over President Trump for taking Top Secret documents home with him - yet they don’t pay much attention to Hilary Clinton’s deleted emails, because they’re sure it was just a benign oversight?

And why do Republicans keep bringing up Hilary’s e-mails - and accuse the FBI of fraud for raiding President Trump's home, because he couldn’t have possibly done anything wrong?

It’s because we are far quicker to notice and call out hypocrisy when it goes against our own beliefs.

We are not cold, logical, robots - psychologists say we all have self-serving biases - that we evaluate our own abilities, performance, and opinions, as better than others - and pass judgments on those who are different. 

This often takes us down the road of hypocrisy, which can come out of a low self-esteem (we have to put others down to prop ourselves up), a desire to feel positive about ourselves, (that we’re good, decent, and capable people), or because we’re just plain lazy (putting someone down for not being generous means we have to be, which is not easy).

On Sunday, our Gospel puts us face to face with hypocrisy - inviting us to explore our own biases - and temptations to call out others for things for which we may give ourselves a pass.

Living honestly, transparently, whole-heartedly, and focused on Jesus means constantly evaluating ourselves for the ways we live by double-standards. Our goal as Christians is to love - to love authentically, honestly, and completely - which means understanding our own biases and shortcomings as ways that influence our views of others and the world.

One of the best ways to love others is to look honestly at ourselves. May we have the strength and grace to do so.