About the Hypocrites in Church..

We've all heard it. Perhaps we've even said it.

“I don't want to go to church because there are too many hypocrites there!”

Some people say it even though they have never even set foot inside a church. They have heard someone else say the words, and they have adopted it as part of their defense system to keep from having to expose themselves to something uncomfortable.

What is a hypocrite, really?

A hypocrite could be someone who rebukes a person for living in a certain way, but in his private life he does the very thing he is preaching against. For instance, Bill confronts Joe about drinking beer and watching football games, but Bill drinks wine at night before he goes to bed. In Bill's mind, wine is okay because even Jesus drank wine, but beer is not okay because it is not listed in the Bible as an acceptable beverage. On the other hand Joe sees the fact that beer and wine are both alcohol, and he sees no difference between the two. Deciding whose point of view is correct will have some real bearing on whether Bill is truly a hypocrite, or if Joe just needs to get with the program.

Or…

A hypocrite could be someone who is acting one way in church, but is living another way at home, and knows it. Take Mary, who leads a women's group on Tuesday mornings, but goes to the casino on Saturday nights. Mary teaches about temperance and moderation in all things. She teaches about the evils of idolatry and allowing the passions of the flesh to get in the way of our spiritual walk. Yet, on Saturday nights she takes money that her husband gives her for incidentals, and she spends it at the penny slot machines. Since she is only playing penny machines, she feels she isn't really doing any damage, and since nobody travels 30 miles from her town to catch her, nobody will be offended. Mary obviously feels she is a special case, because her actions show that she can do as she pleases, though she teaches others something entirely different. Yet, her secret feelings of guilt are exposed by the fact that she drives such a distance to be sure nobody who knows her will see her. Mary is a hypocrite.

Or…

A hypocrite could be someone who is acting one way in church, but is living another way at home, and just can't quite bring the two together. Cindy is a young, single mom who works and has to have her two children in day care. She wants to know more about God, and she is trying to learn to conform to the way others act in church. She doesn't know there is more to it than just appearances; all she knows is she needs help in her life and she hopes the church is the place to get that help. Cindy smiles nervously when she meets other women in church, and she is timid about letting them know she is not married, but that she has two children, because someone told her that was a sin. She wants to talk to someone about these things, and she is trying to work up her courage. But she has a new boyfriend who doesn't want anything to do with church, and she doesn't want to rock the boat. Cindy isn't trying to be a hypocrite; Cindy is trying to find her way, and she needs some guidance.

We could probably all recite case after case to show the varying shades of hypocrisy, and we could even go after the pulpit, the choir, and the elders to expose other examples. But in reality, if we are truly worried about what other people do, we are not in church for the right reasons anyway.

What is the church? Is it a building that houses people, or is it the people of God who gather together? Is it a program? Is it a social event? Or is it a spiritual hospital that helps sick people to recover? Answer that question and you will have an idea of what kind of church to look for; answer that question and you will have an indication of what type of people will attend that church.

It is wise to follow the example of people who are living the life of a believer in Christ. But people are just people, and they often fail. The wisest and kindest person will not meet our expectations, and that is rightly so, because we need to learn to put our eyes on God instead. If we put someone on a pedestal, we are simply setting them up to be knocked off of it later, because we are to be followers of Christ and worshipers of God.

There is no perfect church. There are no perfect people. There is no perfect program. There is only perfection in God, and we find it through faith and trust in Christ. In Him there is no hypocrisy, but He said we needed one another. Paul said we needed to prefer one another in love, and Jesus said that others would know that we are His disciples by the love we have for one another.

Can you love a hypocrite and still follow God? The answer is a resounding YES! For at one time or another, even if it is simply because we are acting out something we merely wish to become, we are all hypocrites. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly so that we could all find our way back to God because of His act of love. I'm quite sure hypocrites were included in the list of sinners for whom Christ died.

So, the next time someone invites you to church, instead of pinning your reluctance on the hypocrites, why not go and try it out? If you go for the right reasons, your eyes won't be on the hypocrites… they will be on the Lord.