Thought for the Month - August 2002

Hypocrisy in the Church - By Barry Adair

"Who'd be a Christian, sure they're ALL a bunch of hypocrites!"

I'm sure you've heard this before but before you dismiss this person's quote as another case of "give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine" ( Matthew 7:6), read on a while:

I want to have a look at myself and others in our local church to see if we have hypocricy in our hearts at times. The scary thing is, that if the answer is YES, then that person's initial quote may hold some truth!

The meaning of the word 'hypocrisy' is 'something which masks itself to be something that it is not'.

I've read that the Acropolis, in Athens, is visited by thousands of tourists each year. Many of them take away a piece of marble as a souvenir. So why hasn't the supply of pieces from the Acropolis not been exhausted years ago? The answer is very simple. Every few months a truckload of marble fragments from a quarry miles away is scattered around the whole Acropolis area. So the tourists go home happy with what they think is an authentic piece of ancient history.

So do we ever make ourselves out to be something that we are not?

Do we ever allow others to think more highly of us than is actually the truth?

Have we ever spoken to others in a way that has masked our true character?

It has been said that a hypocrite has God on his tongue and the world in his heart.

Dare I suggest that we ALL may behave in a hypocritical manner sometimes?

Our Lord severely rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matt. 6:2,5,16 and throughout chap 23). Take time, sometime, to read through Matthew chapter 23. Two verses that stood out for me, in relation to hypocrisy, were verses 5 and 28:

5 "But all their works they do for to be seen of men"

28 "Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity"

We all need to be very careful of what we do for GOD rather than what we do to be seen by MEN.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons" (Colossians 3:23-25)

There IS far too much hypocrisy in the Church. The Church is not perfect. But Christ is. Fasten your eyes on Him. It will only be when you look fully unto Jesus that, like the psalmist, you will be able to declare: "I have seen an end of all perfection" (Psalm 119:96).

"And being made perfect, He (Jesus) became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9)

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!