Here is another distinct charge against them. Their mind is constantly on their reputation, the honour they receive from others.
This is the way Christ exhorts his disciples to cut off all opportunity for the flesh to boast: by doing our good works in secret, where only God can see them. That working in secret is itself an act of mortification of the old nature. But this is his devastating analysis of the motivation and goals of the religious hypocrite.
Pride is a terrible and persistent enemy of all, and it is one of those sins which cannot be easily and quickly dispensed with. It is not in the category of those things that should not once be named among us. The battle against pride is a long and hard battle that every believer has to fight, especially those who are called to office in the church of God. Only by persistent watchfulness and self-denial can it be brought under control.