27 June 2008
Caution: Hypocrite Present
Posted by Randy Davis under: Christian Life; Christian Spirituality; Church; Creativity; Culture; Pastoral Ministry; Preaching; Repentance; Theology .
The Church is full of hypocrites. That is the accusation made today against the church. It fact, it is supposed to be a major reason why people do not attend church. But it is not a new one. I know some think that they just discovered this truth. But, as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. There have always been hypocrites in church.
Now, there. It has been said. What next? There are hypocrites in church, what are you going to do about it? Well, not more that we already do. Maybe we need to understand why there are hypocrites in church.
The word hypocrite comes from the Greek ὑποκριτής (hupokrites) which means to be an actor. Merriam-Webster says that a hypocrite is “one who puts on the false virtue of religion.” So strictly speaking, a hypocrite is one who pretends to have religion or be more specific, to be a Christian.
I think it is safe to say that there are some people who attend church who are pretending. It is a sad thought but I believe there is quite a number of people who pretend to follow Christ and do not. But this is a minority of people. It is very similar to the rest of society. You will always have someone pretending to be what he is not.
But the problem with church members is not that they are pretending to be something they are not. The real problem, if you can call it a problem, is they are trying to be something new. A Christian is a person who sinful nature is being changed and she is trying to be something different. He or she is trying to go from the sinner that they are to being a person holy before God. The theological term for this is sanctification. It is true that when we are saved God declares us to be holy. But a declaration is not the same as being holy. We are being made holy. We are becoming what God has declared us to be. Salvation is an ongoing process. It all does not happen at the moment of conversion. For the first time in a person’s life, when we come to Christ we are able not to sin. We are still able to sin but before coming to Christ, we were not able to not sin. See the difference? God enables the believer to say no to sin. But we still fall to temptation from time to time because the old nature still has power over us. But the moment we are redeemed, we can start on this journey to holiness.
I do not know why God chose to do it this way. I would love to live a perfect life! But each day of a Christian’s life should be one more step to Christ likeness. Unfortunately, most of us take a step or two forward and then we go backwards. However, this is nothing new. Paul confessed the same problem in the book of Romans. Romans 7:15 “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” Most of us think of St Paul as someone special, just a little less than Jesus himself. But Paul was a fallen man like the rest of us and he wrestled with his sin as we do. Paul recognized that he too was a hypocrite, that is, he was not yet what he wanted to be. He followed Jesus imperfectly. He asked who would set him free from this dilemma and his answer is Jesus himself.
In general, those who use the hypocrisy of Christians an excuse to stay out of church, really are not in the game. They do not try be better. They are not really interested in being holy. In fact, most likely they are not followers of Christ at all and they have not taken the risk of laying their lives at the feet of Jesus and set out on the journey of the Christian life.
The Church is made up of people who are moving from darkness to light, from sin to holiness, from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of God. Because we are becoming something new, we will be hypocrites. Those who are satisfied with the status of being lost and separated from God, of living in the darkness of their sin, and who have no future with Christ in eternity, will always use the hypocrisy of the church as an excuse for their lostness. It is quite true, they are as good as any Christian by all human standards. But it is not about being good. It is about being made new in Christ. Only those who are redeemed by Christ are being made holy by God. We must understand that the Christian has nothing to offer God nor can he change him or herself. But it is Christ at work in us that brings about the change. We cooperate with God, we are called to work out our salvation but it is Christ himself who empowers us to change. This is the difference between the lost and the saved; the saved have been filled with the Spirit of God who is at work changing us. The lost are still separated from Christ and they are true to their fallen nature. The lost are singularly focused on their sinful nature and they have no interest in being like Jesus.
So, for those who cannot tolerate hypocrites, the church is not for them. They will not be happy to be there unless they have a hobby of picking out the failures of Christians and making note of them. But, they are lost and will be forever lost as long as they have such an allergy to hypocrisy.
But hopefully, one day they will come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and they will want to embark of this grand journey of hypocrisy. It is a joyful journey because we slowly lose our old self which was as slave to sin. And we are slowing putting on the character of Christ. Personally, I think it worth being a hypocrite if it means becoming more like Jesus.
Share ThisLeave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
