Hypocrites and Haters

As a Christian I hear from people all the time that the church is full of hypocrites and haters. Really? Full of them? In the context of which they are making the statement, I actually agree. Yup, I said agree and I am a Jesus loving, Bible believing Christian that attends an amazing church. By full I know they don’t actually mean full to capacity like every-single-person-in-the-church full, just full in the context that they are all over the church. Let me share why I agree.

A hypocrite is defined as “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue” or “a person who acts in contradiction to their stated beliefs”. Sound familiar? If I am honest with myself, I tend to act that way at times. It is tough to admit but it happens. I cry out when others act in such a way that is shameful to God (Christian or not) yet I sin daily. The difference is that when I sin I downplay my sin based upon the size of it. Kind of like the idea of a “little white lie”. Not a big deal right? WRONG!

Hate is defined as “to have a strong aversion to : find very distasteful”. Can you think of things that Christians talk about with such disgust? I can.

So why bring up this negativity? Because I believe that as Christians we need to look at ourselves more carefully, examine scripture more precisely, and then act in a way which would bring all glory and honor to God.

It is so easy to point the finger anywhere but the mirror (hypocrite). Until we run out of things to work on in ourselves (see definition for the word “never”), we must be very slow to point out the faults of others (James 1:19). And when we point at non-believers of this world, it is wrong for us to expect that they would follow the commands of the Bible anyway. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Be careful how we view others we disagree with (hate). We know that God’s hates sin (a whole topic on it’s own) but I just don’t think we as humans can do as God does in this instance without always making it a negative. James 5:20 says “let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” Our goal in rebuking the sinner is to lead them to Christ, not away. We must approach every person, every sin, and every situation in such a way that leads to Jesus. All else is folly.

I write this not claiming to have all the answers (or even one for that matter).

I write this in hopes that we open our eyes because God does.