You’re a Hypocrite... NO, you’re a Hypocrite!

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The world is watching Christians... looking for anything they can find to criticize and condemn our conduct and behavior. They look for differences in what we say and preach and how we then live our lives.

Sadly, hypocrisy is the main cause of people abandoning their faith and church fellowship, and it’s the primary barrier to non-believers willingness to consider Christianity and accept Chrtist as their personal Savior. Hypocrisy destroys the Church from inside and from the outside. Hypocrisy can be a real faith killer!

A dictionary definition says that a hypocrite is “a person who pretends to have beliefs or practices which he or she does not actually possess.” Therefore, if the beliefs one claims are actually not possessed, then they would have little influence over one's conduct, actions and choices. The behavior witnessed by an observer.... a person who says one thing but does the opposite... a hypocrite.

The unbeliever criticizes the church for its hypocrisy and so-called Christians for hypocritical behavior. There is no question that hypocrisy exists in the church. Many people professing to be Christians are simply not! There are some people sitting in pews on Sunday, wearing crosses around their necks, or preaching loudly on TV that are counterfeits... genuine hypocrites. They are participating outwardly for reasons other than a saving relationship with Christ as their Lord and Master. Many have allowed the culture to mold them, rather than allowing Christ to transform them from the inside out.

What the unbeliever and critics of the church don't understand is that hypocrisy goes hand-in-hand with being a Christian. The church is made up of imperfect humans. Christians with imperfections reinforce the important truth of the biblical message about man's sinful nature. Being a sinner is, you might say, a requirement for being a Christian!

That being said, there is a critically important distinction between a hypocrite and a sinner. The word hypocrite applies to a person who pretends to be something he is not. However, a Christian recognizes his sinful nature, acknowledges it, and repents of it daily, for some of us even hourly. All hypocrites are sinners, but not all sinners are hypocrites.

Christian hypocrisy does not deny the existence of God or the truth of the Bible. It does, however, prove that each and every one of us is a sinner in need of a Savior. Christians should not condone hypocrisy, but accept that it is part of living in a fallen imperfect world. The Church exists in the fallen world, occupied by imperfect people. Therefore we can expect to see and experience the pains of hypocrisy.

Our challenge... and one we have not been very successful at achieving, is to help the unbeliever see the Church as a place where all people have an opportunity to avail themselves of God's saving grace and transforming power. How do we help the critics and nay-sayers who look for every little thing they can find to condemn the “body of Christ”?

I am convinced that many of those who nit-pick at the Church, are really crying out for someone to help them understand what is really going on with God's body of imperfect humans. These critics are, in fact, seekers, and our job is to help them understand what's really going on.

How do we Help the Critics?
First we all need to acknowledge that simply going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car.

There is a critically important soul searching question for anyone who has turned away from the church or never considered Christianity because of what they see as hypocritical conduct among its members... Christians behaving badly, living not according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The question..... Since when do you allow hypocrisy to determine your affiliation and participation in the “things of God”?

No one should be confused by the assumption that because God founded the Church and is involved, that His “body of believers” is somehow going to be the perfect reflection of Him-the Church is not perfect. It is impossible... and the lack of “perfection in the church” as critics would charge, is proof that Christianity is nothing more than a man-made institution and there is no God involved. It's actually just the opposite. The fact that imperfection and hypocrisy do exist in the church is monumental proof that the God of the Bible, the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth has created this assembly of believers as His ordained body... the Church.

This should take some pressure off anyone investigating Christianity. What we have in the church is not an “idea of man”, but a concept fully vetted and ordained by God.

As the imperfect Christians who make up the “body of Christ” we have to live with the possibility that what some people perceive as hypocrisy in the church is in fact, the result of mistaken identity or simply convenience rhetoric for attacking Christians.

Genuine Christians stumble and make mistakes... say things to family members they regret, get frustrated with coworkers, at times act foolishly, and react negatively to stress and anxiety. You get the idea... Christians are imperfect humans and we act and react that way. When we act badly, we're cut to the heart and deeply troubled by our behavior. We know the consequences of our actions will be damaging and detrimental to others. We're embarrassed and ashamed by our actions and our words. We seek God's forgiveness.

The Christian hypocrite doesn't think they've done or said anything wrong. They don't think their words are hurtful or their conduct out of line. They justify their actions by worldly ungodly standards and don't comprehend the damaging impressions they're leaving on “observers” who are watching their every move and hearing every word out of their mouths.

The difference? The genuine Christian is remorseful for bad conduct and heart broken for sinning against the leading of the Holy Spirit who is working to transform a genuine Christian. The false hypocritical Christian doesn't think there's any problem at all. Therein lies the problem and proof positive that the so-called Christian is in fact not a Christian at all.

We know that some people in the church are not really Christians, and simply don't exhibit Christ-like conduct and behavior. This leads to another question.... Why does it appear that so many genuine Christians are hypocrites? I think it results from some confusion about what a real Christian is. In fact, as we better understand what a true Christian is, we'll have a better understanding of what a hypocrite really is. Consider the following clarifications.....

Genuine Christians are forgiven sinners. The Bible never says that Christ followers are perfect. It does say that those who surrender their lives to Him will be perfectly forgiven. There's a difference between being a sinner and being a hypocrite. There's an unspoken assumption that a Christian is someone who doesn't sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, it's just the opposite. Remember what John 1:8 very clearly says: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” A hypocrite, claims to be free from faults, or pride and arrogance have blinded he or she to their ungodly conduct. A Christian, on the other hand, freely admits the fact that he or she is a sinner. A forgiven sinner consistently seeks cleansing from sin.

Genuine Christians are not what they once were. Some of you may look at a Christian and wonder why they behave a certain way. After all, a real Christian shouldn't lose his temper, shouldn't struggle with alcohol and shouldn't swear, right? You might even think to yourself, “If that's the best God can do with so-called Christians, forget it. I expect more out of Christians.” Instead of focusing on how far people fall short, why not think about how far they've come?

God is renovating the heart and mind and observers can't really see what going on there. What the critics see, is the visible stumbling and occasional mistakes Christians make. No one but God can see how changed the heart and mind of a real Christian has become through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit working in a Christians life. Critics see the outward signs of our sinful natures and judge us by our stumbling, not the transformation that God is performing.

Genuine Christians are a work in progress. A real Christian will continue to be transformed by God throughout their lives... slowly and steadily becoming a reflection of Christ in conduct, attitude and love. That transformation is not going to happen in this life, but at death, when we will be radically changed and spend eternity with Christ. Our living “in Christ” is a lifelong process of renovation by the Holy Spirit making us a dwelling suitable for God to be within us. When we mess up, He prompts us to confess it, to work through it with those we've hurt. He gives us the courage and humility to ask for forgiveness of those we have hurt. He gives us the power to live the way the Bible teaches.

Throughout a Christian's life you can expect to observe a certain level of immaturity and imperfection, including occasional hypocrisy. While regrettable, it's expected. We believers spend a lifetime struggling, not to gain freedom from sin's penalty, but rather to gain freedom from sin's power over our attitudes and actions. The ultimate transformation, of course, awaits the Christian only in the eternal age to come.

The Answer to Hypocrisy.... Christ
Maybe you've heard people say that they'd be more interested in following Christ if there weren't so many hypocrites. They don't seem to realize that if a hypocrite is standing between them and God, then the hypocrite is closer to God than they are!

Because of His grace, we can admit both to God and to fellow humans when our actions are hypocritical. There is no better place for hypocrites to be than in church where the transforming power of God can continually convict, forgive, and renew us day by day. Only one person who can affect that kind of change. His name is Jesus Christ.

Christians are not perfect and never will be... but Christ is. Fix your eyes on Him.... focus on Him and the turmoil within the Church will be less troublesome to you. Living focused on Christ is the surest way of overcoming hypocrisy and its negative effects on those who watch Christians and judge God's grace and offer of salvation by imperfect human standards.

Christianity stands or falls on the person of Jesus Christ, not the performance of Christians. We worship the perfect Christ, not imperfect Christians.