How many times have you heard someone use hypocrisy as a reason for not attending church? "Those places are all full of hypocrites. They act one way in church and another way everywhere else. They ain't no different from me"--you know the bit. Hypocrisy is no new problem in man's relationship with God.
The prophet Jeremiah lamented to God, "You have planted them and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts" (12:2). Isaiah wrote, "The Lord says, 'These people come near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men" (29:13-14). Jesus quoted those very words when He spoke to the Pharisees in Matthew 15, to the group He referred to as hypocrites by name in Matthew 23. The word he used literally translates "an actor under an assumed character." They were absolutely not what they wanted people to believe, and used their office to control and manipulate the people who wanted to draw close to God.
Jesus pointing out the problem did not make it go away. The epistles are full of accusation. "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their words and their consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for anything good" (Titus 1:15-16). Timothy said to have nothing to do with those "having a form of godliness but denying its power (II Tim. 2:5)--maybe that's where our modern-day critics get their excuse! According to I John 2:4, "The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what He says is a liar and the truth is not in him." Hypocrisy causes all manner of problems, and not only in the church. Hosea warned, "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." We must be very careful these days to represent our Savior well.
Before we get too comfortable in our own righteousness (But Lord, I'm not a hypocrite), let's consider Paul:
7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good.
7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.
7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Let's face it, we all have our issues, and we will as long as we're in this flesh, pious though we may be. Belonging to Christ, our command is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . and your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:37-39). "A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks" (John 4:23); "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27); "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is our spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2). One great thing here is the word transformed. It is the Greek word metamorphoo, the word from which we derive our English word metamorphosis, like the caterpillar to the butterfly scenario. The transformation is not always instantaneous, but very often a process. So if we seem, from time to time, hypocritical during the process (and we will), at least we are assured that "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
And for those who don't attend church because of the hypocrisy they may find there, you might ask them if they go to work . . . or to the grocery store . . . or to the movies--any hypocrites there?
Heavenly Father, Gracious Lord, please forgive me for my hypocrisy. I ask that You would deliver me from my sinful nature, and place in me Your holy nature, not so I can say I'm better than others, but just so I can be what You created me to be, so I can love You with my whole heart and soul and mind, and my neighbor as myself, so I can worship You in spirit and in truth, so I can effectively serve others and staunchly turn away from the pollution of the world. Please continue the metamorphosis Lord, especially in those areas where I resist. And thank You that You never give up on me. I love You, Lord. Amen
2:3 And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
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