Life in the Way

The Hypocritical Church.

I was talking with a retired pastor last night and we were talking about the nature of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary at answers.com:

hy·poc·ri·sy (hĭ-pŏk‘rĭ-sē)
n., pl. -sies.

1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
2. An act or instance of such falseness.

John Wesley, the Apostle Paul, and others over the centuries discuss sanctification as a process. When someone receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they enter into a process of growing in faith and righteousness. Part of that process is confession. That we aren’t God or even godly at times, but we are striving for a goal, not set by humanity or culture, but set by God and offered through faith by grace.

All that said, shouldn’t a Christian be a person who is aware of their own hypocrisy because the goal is “perfection” or Christ-likeness. So, praise be to God who allows those followers of the Way to acknowledge the hypocrisy in their lives and through faith be working towards the ultimate goal. Hypocrisy is not something to be happy about, nor is it something to be complacent about, but when a human is placed against the Christ and humble submits to grow in that lifestyle then hypocrisy is part of the confessional part of the whole process. It becomes an interesting part of journeying through life when confronted by people who claim that the church or Christians are hypocritical because by definition we are and should humble confess that.

This type of thinking is like the sideline parent who expects their six year old to play like a professional athlete. For illustrative purposes, my daughter just finished her fall soccer season. I know that she will be a much better soccer player in a few years if she continues to work at it. Whether unconsciously or consciously, she can recognize that she needs to grow, learn, and practice (e.g., she is not the perfect soccer player) and the more she does she will continue to advance. She may never be the best soccer player, but there is always “the best” to strive for, yet in the Christian life we cannot be nor should we desire to be God - only a sinner of God’s own redeeming.

Christians continue to strive for Christ-likeness, yet hypocritically fall short. So, does an individual who refers to Christians or the church as hypocritical just not understand the whole concept of the confessional nature of being a follower of the Way? Just cause, I guess, would be a Christian or church that is non-confessional.  I guess it could also be when a church or Christian is not “getting sanctified” fast enough for one’s taste.  What are your thoughts?

Tags: Education, Evangelism, Theology