Church Hypocrites.

Sarah Stonestreet.

 Breakpoint.

Download/Print PDF

One of the most common reasons that people give for rejecting

 Christianity, organized religion, or the church is hypocrisy.

“Too many people,” we hear, “say one thing and live another.”  

This is the concern tackled in the latest What Would You Say? video,

 hosted by my wife, Sarah Stonestreet, also of the Strong Women 

podcast.

Here’s part of the transcript of the video:

—

Have you ever met someone who claims to be a Christian but

 doesn’t act like it? Maybe they are even outspoken about what

 the Bible says or why a particular point of Christianity is true, 

but their lives contradict the way Christians are called to live. 

This sort of religious hypocrisy is damaging to the church and

 hurts people. 

So, the next time someone says, “I don’t go to church, because

 the church is full of hypocrites.” Here are three things to

 remember: 

Number one, a concept like hypocrisy requires a standard of 

morality or moral conduct with which a person generally agrees, 

but fails to act accordingly. Every person has some kind of

 standard by which they make moral judgments. We use these 

moral standards, even if they are inconsistent or not fully thought

 out, to guide our everyday actions and thoughts when our actions

 contradict the moral standard to which we profess we act

 hypocritically.

Christians have a clearly defined moral standard which is found 

in the very nature of God and revealed in his word. Our standard

 is God’s own perfect goodness. This brings us to point number 

two. 

Jesus condemned religious hypocrisy. “Why do you look at the

 speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye,” said Jesus, “and pay 

no attention to the plank in your own? You hypocrite! First, take 

the plank out of your own.” Jesus also warned that hypocrisy defiles a person, and is utterly detestable to God. 

Point number three: whether or not Christianity is objectively true 

does not rise and fall on the subjective experiences of human

 beings. Paul, the apostle, said that if we have knowledge, but

 don’t speak it in love, we come across as an annoyance to the 

world, and Jesus actually prayed for us that we would reflect the

 profound reality of God’s sacrificial love for humankind. When we

 fail to fulfill those teachings, it prompts scepticism about our

 message of unconditional love. 

However, through this objection, we have a unique opportunity to 

say “Yes, the church is full of hypocrites.” That’s actually one of the reasons why Christ offers forgiveness and salvation because none of us are thoroughly good. Rather we all live in the tension of the goodness

 of God’s redemption and the destructiveness of our own sin nature. 

So, the next time someone says, “I don’t go to church because the 

church is full of hypocrites,” Remember these three things. Number

 one: hypocrisy requires a moral standard. Number two: Jesus 

condemned religious hypocrisy. Number three: the behaviours of 

the believers are not the litmus test for Christianity.