People see the outside and form an evaluation on such externalities as church attendance, donations of money and time to church causes, living a Christian ethic. Christ looks at the heart and so penetrates to the deeper question of motive (see further 1 Samuel 16:7; Matthew 23:1–39).
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.