Hypocrisy in the Church

This topic is real. This topic is raw. This issue keeps me up at night.,…and it’s a heavy burden on my heart. Although everything in my brain is saying, “Don’t do it!” I must obey the spirit. Here are my thoughts.
I’ve been really blown away lately about the problem of hypocrisy in the church. First, my brother and Chuck and I had a wonderful discussion about God and His place in our lives. My brother broke it down (his rejection of God that is). He said he does believe in the Bible and in Jesus but he doesn’t attend church because there are too many fake Christians. I have been hearing this problem and excuse a lot lately and I am totally heart broken. I’m crying as I type this…
One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Keith Green, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.”
Last night as the Whosoevers gave their testimonies Ryan Ries shared how disgruntled and angry he became at fake Christians. Although he grew up in the church, his dad was an evangelist and pastor of a large church, he wanted nothing to do with it. Ryan Ries said he would see people raising their hands during a worship service but then later, he would see these SAME PEOPLE smoking weed and doing drugs and partying. This was a big turn off for him. He did not want church and he certainly did not want their Jesus. This is where my heart breaks.
I think a lot of people understand John 14:6. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me.” People check the box on Sunday. OK, I choose Jesus. Not Mohammed, not Krishna, not Buddha, I choose Jesus H. Christ. The Trinity. Father, Son and Spirit. Done. I am a Christian. Done. Now waiter, please pass the joint, pass the margarita, pass the sex, pass the gossip, pass the porn, pass the unforgiveness, pass the discontentment and please, do heap on the self because that’s the tastiest of all. Some people say, pass the selfishness and pride and tolerance and morality…because I am a good person. I am a Christian but really, I am the god in control of my life. Either way, idolatry has crept into the church and it’s one way for the enemy to encourage others to reject Jesus. Why would anyone want to serve God daily when it doesn’t make a difference in your life any way?
Oh how badly we’ve misrepresented Jesus. I’m so heart broken.
We don’t get it. We don’t realize the POWER we hold when we say we are Christians. Even though of course everyone knows “Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven” we are representatives of Christ. We need to keep it real. We need to die to our flesh…But so many of us are failing at this. So many of us Christians are looking at Jesus as our savior, but then we spit on his face as our LORD. Lord means He is the master of our lives. But we spit on that….
We want to live in sin but gain heaven and it’s so wrong!
How I can I expect to stay fit if I don’t drink water? How can I expect to stay healthy if I don’t exercise? How can I expect to maintain a healthy weight if I eat junk food all day? Oh it’s easy. Just take this pill. It’s a diet pill. Do what you want and eat what you want and you’ll stay thin. It’s a miracle.
Would anyone in their right mind believe this garbage? Would anyone buy such a pill that is obviously a lie?
Every human being on this earth knows, if you want to be healthy, you need to eat a healthy balanced diet, you need to exercise, you need to get sleep, you need to abstain from over-eating certain foods, etc. Even my 4-year old daughter gets this. However, we adults don’t get it. We think we can just say we are Christians and then it’s all good.
Well it’s not all good. We are not taking our walks seriously. People are perishing. People are turning away from the acceptance of Jesus NOT ONLY ACCEPTING HIM INTO THEIR HEARTS but into THEIR DAILY LIVES because we are not setting good examples.
Please friends, may we pray for ourselves, our walks, our homes, our churches and for others. May we be bold for our faith and ask God to be the God of our daily lives in our homes, our work and EVERYWHERE we go. May we truly remember it is an honor to call ourselves “Christians.” May we take it back. I don’t want to be ashamed to say I am a Christian because immediately people think I am self-righteous, judgmental and a hypocrite. But sadly, that’s what many people think.
I want to say I am a Christian and for people to inspect my life and say, “She’s got joy. She’s got peace. She’s got satisfaction in life and she doesn’t need to drink because there is nothing she needs to escape from. She’s doesn’t need to self medicate away her pain, because her Jesus wiped away all her sins and pain. She's not perfect, but she daily lives a surrendered life for Jesus. Not just on Sunday, but every second, of every minute of every day.” That’s what I want my testimony to be. Sound radical? Sound crazy? If Jesus died for me, I ought to LIVE every day for Him. Please Jesus bring revival to our churches and may it start with ME.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him would not die, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
Not just life after death, but life during life… Abundant life. (John 10: 10)