Christians are Hypocrites!

The once vacant building in the same block as the church had now became a bar, much to the dismay of everyone in the church. Members of the church talked with the bar owner several times, in an effort to get him to close or move his business, but to no avail.

The last conversation ended with the church people telling the bar owner they were going to pray that he would be shutdown. On Sunday all the church members had special prayer that the bar would close down. On Sunday evening, the bar caught fire and was burned to the ground with no cause for the fire found.

Remembering what the church members had said, the bar owner decided to sue the church as being responsible for the damages to his bar. In court, the bar owner’s lawyer said it was the church that caused the damage to the bar. Of course the church’s lawyer said that the fire was an “act of nature”.

With no evidence from either side regarding the cause of the fire, the Judge tossed the suit out and decided that the argument basically boiled down to the fact that apparently the bar owner did believe in prayer, but that the church members didn’t.

Matt 7:3-4 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

A hypocrite is an actor. They are people who pretend to be something they aren’t. Jesus' harshest words were reserved for hypocrites. In one way, we can look at it as a matter of sin and love. If we sin and say we love, then we are hypocrites. If we say we love and we don’t, we are hypocrites. If we say we love and we do, then we are genuine. If we sin and know we sinned and repent, we are genuine. In another way, it is a heart issue. If our hearts are far away from Jesus but we pretend to be his followers, then we are hypocrites. If we say that Jesus is our God and our Lord but we don’t trust him with our lives and our decisions, then we are hypocrites. In the illustration above, the church was hypocritical because they pretended to be close to God, but when God acted, they didn’t believe.

Are we hypocrites?

• There’s a difference between being a sinner and a hypocrite. If someone is saying that the church is hypocritical because there are imperfect people there, then they misuse the word.
• We are all sinners. (Romans 3:23)
• The church is not a place for perfect people but for those who know they are sick (Jesus came to heal those who are sick not those who are well – Matt 9:12-13 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.")
• But some of us are hypocrites
• We know the right thing to do but we choose to do otherwise (Matt 26:14-16)
• OR we say we are doing something when we are doing something else. Acts 5:1-10.
• Being human is not an excuse for allowing every temptation that enters into our lives to become a sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
• Jesus was tempted but Jesus never sinned.
• It’s a heart issue. Are we remorseful or repentant? One who is remorseful might feel bad about his sin but might do it again…he feels bad about it because of the consequences. One who is repentant recognizes his sin, not because of the consequences but because he has hurt God and goes about an effort to not do it again.
• So assume we are repentant. How do we overcome? How do we live so that our Christian witness shines like a light in this dark world? How can we make it so that people cannot say that we are hypocritical? We can overcome because the power of God.
• Jesus tells us that we have the Holy Spirit in us
• 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
• 1 John 5:4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
• He gives us the power to stand strong
• Rom 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.,
• Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
• We overcome by growing in our relationship with Jesus. We give him our hearts. We give him our lives. We trust him to give us everything we need.
• The website, CARM, says it this way:

· A hypocrite may have a good profession of faith, have been baptized, hold a church office, and a myriad of other external privileges.

· But a hypocrite will not and cannot love Jesus Christ. "He will not delight in the Almighty" (Job 27:10).

· Some people put their love in their work, their family, their hobbies, and put Jesus on hold and do not love Him as Lord.Matthew 15:8 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

· Perhaps you are confident in your creed, or your baptism, or your church affiliation, yet without true love for Christ.

If this is your estate, hear the fearful malediction of the Apostle Paul:

• "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed" (I Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord ).
• Love for Jesus is central to the Christian life, for without it, nothing else matters.

So our original question is whether the Church is hypocritical. The reality is, there always have been and always will be some hypocrites in the Church. But Jesus doesn't ask us to follow others; he asks us to follow him.

So how do we respond to people who say that we are hypocrites?

• There are some great examples of people who live out what the church can be and who Jesus was. There also might be hypocrites in the church. But, the real question isn't whether or not there are hypocrites in the Church, but whether Jesus is a hypocrite.
• If it can be proven that Jesus was a hypocrite, then the Christian faith is destroyed.
• The Bible, which is God's Word, presents Jesus as nothing less than perfect.
• Jesus' disciples testified that Jesus was without sin ( 1 Peter 2:22 He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.; 1 John 3:5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.).
• Even Jesus himself challenged others to prove that he'd ever sinned ( John 8:46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?).

So while people may have had bad experiences with a church or with certain people who happen to go to church, that is not an excuse not to hear the truth of Jesus, who he is and what he has done for them. If they choose not to follow him, then that is the choice that God has given every person. However, it is our job to help them make that choice knowingly and willingly and not out of ignorance or lack of trying. Many people have come kicking and screaming into heaven from learning the truth. Let’s not be hypocrites. Let’s be the Church, remembering that Jesus built his Church for a main reason – to go out into all the world, teaching people the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Send mail to david@TheArkNY.org with questions about the church or comments about this site.
Last modified: Feb 18, 2007