Those wild and fun boys in Cincinnati have an article up on Hypocrisy in the Church by Len Martin. This is pretty interesting considering the church that published this had some of the biggest hypocrites the church has ever seen when they backstabbed the Mother Church in order to save their incomes.
Martin writes:
I came into the Church as a child, and in my 50-plus years of being in the Church, I have observed many things that made me shake my head and wonder what people were thinking.
I recall a couple of occasions when I was a teenager, when my friends and I would observe people in church doing things they shouldn’t be doing, or behaving in ways we knew were not right. As time went on, several of my friends began commenting about those other people, calling them hypocrites. Eventually, most of my friends left the Church and the reason some of them gave was, “They’re all a bunch of hypocrites!”
He goes on to talk about how the church area he was in brought in unconverted worldly basketball players to play on the church team with the stipulation that they had to attend church services every week. Boys, being boys, did it begrudgingly and then partied hearty on Friday nights and Saturdays after church. Such heathens!
Martin relates his mother's response when he complained bout the hypocrisy:
I remember talking to my mother about the hypocrisy of it all and what to do about it. My mother’s advice was simply this, “You need to be like a race horse with blinders, so you can keep your focus on eternal life in the Kingdom of God.” Horses wear blinders (also called blinkers) to restrict their field of vision and keep their attention focused straight ahead, blocking out any distractions around them.
He continues:
As it relates to Christians, a hypocrite denotes a person who has the outward show of having virtuous character, being morally pure or exercising religious beliefs or principles, when the person really does not. The Greek word translated “hypocrite” can literally mean, “an actor under an assumed character (stage player)” and occurs 20 times in the New Testament. In 17 of those occurrences the word is used by Jesus Christ to rebuke the scribes and Pharisees.
In Matthew 6, with each instruction Jesus gave regarding charitable giving, prayer and fasting, He instructed us to not be like the hypocrites (Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16). It’s worth noting that the Greek words translated “they have their reward,” signify a receipt in full. In other words, they have their entire reward and there is no other reward awaiting them.
The greatest number of occurrences of “hypocrite” in a single passage can be found in Matthew 23. In this chapter, Jesus declares woes upon the scribes and Pharisees seven times, calling them hypocrites (Matthew 23:13-29). A woe is a declaration of grief or indignation.
In all 20 instances of the word “hypocrite” or “hypocrites” used in the New Testament to label a person or group, it was always Jesus speaking. Does this tell us anything?
He then warns that sometimes what you think is hypocrisy, is not.
When we see what we believe is hypocrisy, we feel that something is wrong, or not fair. But just because we see what appears to be hypocrisy does not mean it really is because we do not know the heart of the person. The Apostle Paul, in several of his letters to the various churches, asked the brethren to imitate God. “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Being in the Church does not make us perfect, so we all struggle in our efforts to be like Christ and we still sin (Romans 3:23). We might observe what we believe to be hypocrisy, but we don’t see that person at home in private, praying to God, repenting of their sins and asking forgiveness. When repentance is genuine, God promises to forgive (1 John 1:9). If we are not careful, we might wrongly label someone a “hypocrite” when they are genuinely striving daily to be like Christ and simply fall short.
So brethren, don't let the hypocrites in the church cause you to leave., after all, your leaders are not perfect so cut them a break.
Being in the Church does not make us perfect, so we all struggle in our efforts to be like Christ and we still sin (Romans 3:23). We might observe what we believe to be hypocrisy, but we don’t see that person at home in private, praying to God, repenting of their sins and asking forgiveness. When repentance is genuine, God promises to forgive (1 John 1:9). If we are not careful, we might wrongly label someone a “hypocrite” when they are genuinely striving daily to be like Christ and simply fall short.
Then, thumping his chest he lets everyone know that he is the only ONE from his entire church basketball team still left in the church.
From the basketball team I played on as a teen, I am the only one still in the Church today. All the rest are gone, even the coach, eventually quitting the Church “because of hypocrisy.” Unfortunately, they couldn’t get past the hypocrisy they saw, and were not patient enough to wait for others to grow or allow God to work it out. It was not easy because it did not seem fair, and they ultimately gave up on the Church.
Be like Len and put on your blinders and don't look at what other people do. Ignore them and they will just go away or God will spank them later for you. Rest assured.
Like wearing horse blinders, we must keep our eyes focused straight ahead at the goal of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Do not look at how other people behave, then use it as an excuse to quit running your race! Yes, it is hard at times, but many things in life require us to do hard things.
Earlier in this article, we read Jesus’ instructions regarding charitable giving, prayer and fasting and His statement that the hypocrites “have their reward” (Matthew 7:1-2, 5, 16). There is no other reward that awaits them.
Fight the good fight and remain loyal to the United Church of God, God's one true church.
