Hypocritical Christians

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In this episode I talk about how we are overrun by hypocritical Christians. Over the years I talked with a lot of folks who have left their church or stopped practicing the religion they were raised in. Many times, when I ask them why, they replied, they got tired of all the hypocrisy. They got tired of watching church leaders and church members say one thing and do another.

Now I have to agree with them about that, although I usually did try to convince them that not everyone was or is a hypocrital Christian, but then sure as God made little  green apples, there’d be a news story about some big-name hellfire and brimstone preacher, being caught in just the situation they usually ranted and raved about. A holier than thou politician standing up and demanding that the 10 commandments be placed everywhere in public places, then being caught violating several of them. You know, the thou shalt not bear false witness or the thou shalt have no other god before me, shucks some modern politicians violate the commandments almost every day.

What does the boss say about hypocrites? By the boss, of course I mean Jesus, is He ok with people saying one thing and doing another? I have to say, no, He’s not. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew alone he calls them out 12 times. The one I find most in tune with what I see among today’s Christians is what He says in Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

Now this doesn’t mean not to watch a streaming service where the pastor or someone else leads the congregation in honest prayer. This is talking about the tele-evangelist who looks at the camera and oh so passionately prays, as if he or she is trying for an Emmie or an Oscar. This is the flamboyant, look at me, I’m so holy person, who makes sure everyone around knows he or she is praying.

Another one of those time when Jesus lowered the boom on some hypocrites is told in Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” Think of the scribes and Pharisees a little bit like the leader who makes certain that you know you really should support their ministry. I mean after all, there are passages in the bible that say a person should be willing to offer up what they can in thanks for what they’ve been given. And that’s ok, the problem becomes when that’s the major focus of the ministry. They forget they’re supposed to actually help those less fortunate than themselves.

I mean really, does a “man of God”, a person who is supposed to be a representative of Jesus on earth, a person who is supposed to help people who are lost, really need a big house, fancy car, and expensive clothes? Jesus points out that the concept of tithing is NOT more important than everything else, when he added the line, “weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” You can easily  tell which political and church leaders fall into this category, when all they care about is power and wealth and care nothing about making sure children are fed, that the sick can be taken care, that those in pain are offered help.

They are the ones that we find referenced in Mark 7:6, again these are the words of Jesus, but since many of our mainstream “Christian” leaders like to use the Old Testament to get around what Jesus actually teaches us, “But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.”

No matter how you slice things, if our religious leaders simply pay lip service to what is written but never follow through, they are dishonest Christians or not Christians at all. Remember in the letter of James 2:26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” If we want to revive Christianity, if we want to keep people involve, we have to stop the hypocrisy, we need to weed out the hypocrites, and we have to PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH.

That’s going to do it for this one. Remember, honest Christianity is all about being true to the Teachings of Jesus, not man, and certainly not any organization that simply wants to tell us how to live while not abiding by those rules themselves. We have to rid ourselves of the hypocritical Christians that are absolutely ruining Christianity in America.