Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
It's pretty simple. A hypocrite is the type of person that claims they are a Christian but then doesn't act like it. They might attend church on Sundays even though the night before they were out doing sinful things. The Bible is very straightforward, these people are liars. You probably don't need the Bible to tell you that, it's pretty clear. In God's eyes, people that claim to be Christians but don't act like it aren't "Christian hypocrites", they're just non-Christians. They were never Christians to begin with.
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. James 1:26
If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 1John 4:20
Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:5
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 1 John 2:9
So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Romans 2:3
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1: 22-25
We all as Christians are admitted sinners. That admission comes with a prerequisite humility in order for our view of ourselves to be honest. I can say this, once I accepted Christ into my life, I did not stop sinning. It is a battle waged between the flesh and the Spirit that causes our vacillations and struggles daily with what we do and demonstrate to the world around us. As Christians, the secular world holds us to a much higher standard than “regular” people. By regular, I am simply demonstrating the perspective secular society has towards Christians as a whole. They see us as almost some kind of Holy Roller who feels superior to the rest of the world based on his “clean image” and the secular world’s hedonistic behavior. I do not believe this is the view of all non-Christians by any means, but it is significant enough that we should be very aware of our public behavior and how it is perceived.
Of course, God isn't saying, "If you ever break one single rule then that's it, you're a liar." It just means if you really are a Christian then you will make a genuine attempt to follow all of his commandments. We aren't perfect. Sometimes we'll make a mistake and unfortunately, when we make that mistake a non-Christian will probably be there to call us a hypocrite because they love pointing them out. However, as long as you keep on trying to follow God's commandments then you aren't a hypocrite, you're just human.
That one approach keeps me from having overwhelming periods of self-hate and perpetual disappointment in myself. I have this understanding that I am human here on this earth and the flesh will at times demonstrate itself through our actions. Sometimes we don’t see it. Sometimes we make comments or act in ways that are in contradiction to the faith we profess to have. People will talk in our absence and label us hypocrites and superficial. If we are thin skinned and easily hurt by the comments of others the rumors could produce more drama, which in turn becomes more and more ammunition for the critics and doubters who claim our faith is but a façade.
The book of Romans has a verse in it that represents the daily struggles of many Christians while they work to be more in the Spirit than the flesh. Paul writes of his constant conflict within himself to resist doing the things that are not of the Spirit.
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:15-20
I regard Paul as perhaps Christ’s greatest apostle and disciple. With this in mind, I find encouragement in knowing that he struggled as well with the sins of the flesh. I know that his desire was strong and very genuine to live by the spirit and so is mine. I cannot pretend to compare myself to Paul because he and Peter were the foundation upon which today’s church was built. I do gain solace upon realizing we all fall short and this journey as Christians is not a one-time exam or a semester length class or even a graduate level Major that is soon completed and hung on a wall for certification purposes. It is a constant and daily walk until God so chooses to bring us home. I have many regrets in my life concerning decisions, words spoken, behaviors, and thoughts as well as desires that occurred in my past. I feel to some degree we all have moments we look back on with a modicum of shame and disappointment in our selves.
The Lord’s Prayer speaks on forgiveness and how our own forgiveness from God is dependent upon our own ability to forgive as well. I believe we should also demonstrate the capacity to forgive ourselves and to understand that things will take place in our lives that in hindsight we know should have never happened. That realization is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and just on that basis we should consider ourselves blessed to have such an enlightening entity thriving within our very heart. We know who we are deep inside and we know whether the life we lead is a charade in order to escape the criticisms of our peers and those we look up to or is it a sincere and genuine need and desire to know Christ and have him occupy our very core despite our shortcomings.
10 “I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10.
No comments:
Post a Comment