“The Church Is Full of Hypocrites”

Rev. Brian North     Westminster Presbyterian Chehalis, WA     April 6^th, 2008

Matthew 6:1-6, 7:1-5                                                      I'd Like to Believe, But…

                                       "The Church Is Full of Hypocrites”

We began a new series last Sunday looking at some of the reasons why people choose not to follow God in the context of a church. For sure, there are some people who don't simply because they deny the existence of God. And so last week we looked at the topic of “more proof for the existence of God,” and hopefully as a result you are on firmer ground in your own faith and in your relationships with people who don't believe in the existence of God. The reality is, however, that most Americans believe that God exists. Depending on whose research you believe, somewhere around 90% of Americans believe in God, and over 80% would say they are Christian. But I guarantee you that 80% of Americans are not in church this morning. (Research puts that figure at more like 17%.) So for most people, the stumbling block to faith isn't God. In fact, the biggest stumbling block is the people who are already in the church.¹ Christians are the biggest stumbling block to non-Christians. As one man says, “My perceptions of Christians weren't good. Unfortunately the ones who wear it on their sleeves are the biggest hypocrites, quick to call people sinners and tell them they need to find God in life. It made me feel like I wasn't on par with them, that they were better than me. Anything they said fell on deaf ears.”²

That's a sad commentary on our testimony to the love of God. And so for the last three sermons in this series, we'll look at what it is about Christians that is a turn-off to people who are not yet Christians. My hope and prayer is that for those of us who are Christ followers, we'll have a deeper understanding of what it means to follow Jesus Christ and to live out that discipleship on a daily basis. For anyone who might hear one or more of these sermons who doesn't yet follow Jesus, I hope this will address some issues you may have with the church and its people and open the door to commitment to Jesus Christ.

This morning we're going to look at the issue of hypocrisy in the church. In other words: “I'd like to believe, but the church is full of hypocrites.”

Now, on one hand, that should be obvious. There's a part of me that wants to preach a one sentence sermon and say, “Of course there are hypocrites in the church.” End of sermon. But there's more to it than that. Every person on the face of the planet is hypocritical about something at some point in their lives. Fairly or unfairly, however, Christians are especially labeled as being hypocritical. We probably get that tag more often than other groups of people – religious or otherwise. I suppose, on a certain level, that should be expected, because one reason people get labeled as hypocritical is that they have certain standards that they try to live up to and encourage others to live up to, but don't do it very well in their own lives. And when it comes to the Christian faith, that is true as well: God lays out some high standards of moral living, we as Christians proclaim them and by God's grace try to live up to them, but we fall short. And unfortunately, many of those instances of “falling short” have come with the news reporters and cameras following close behind. So there's an inherent tendency toward the charge of hypocrisy in the case of the church that is not present with other organizations.

For instance, in my seven years of teaching ski school, where you would expect that the instructors would all be really good skiers, no one ever accused me or any other instructor, of being a poor skier. No one ever called us instructors “hypocrites” for our efforts at skiing or our efforts at teaching others how to slide down the slopes with grace and good technique. But believe me, there were plenty of ski instructors who were definitely not the greatest skiers on the hill, and could have used a few more lessons. I am one of them. But no one accused the ski school of hypocrisy.

But it happens to Christians all the time. And Jesus himself had some pretty hard teachings for people who would follow after him. He addressed this issue of hypocrisy head-on. In this morning's passages, we see Jesus use this word, “hypocrite” three times. And he uses it a fourth time in the middle of chapter 6 as well, between these two passages. So in the span of 39 verses Jesus uses this word, “hypocrite” four times in a negative way about people who follow God.

The first instance is used with regards to giving alms. This simply means giving money or goods or food to people in need. Apparently, some people were giving to the poor in such a way that they were attracting attention to themselves. In fact, they were giving for the sake of getting attention. Whether or not they literally blew a trumpet (Mt. 6:2) as they were giving is a subject of scholarly debate, and we'll leave it there. The point is that they attracted attention to themselves through what should have been a simple act of service and piety.

The second instance of this use of the word “hypocrite” comes in the context of talking about prayer. Some people were apparently praying in such a way and in such a place that they attracted attention to themselves. That is far from the purpose of prayer, and not a proper use of prayer in any way. And so Jesus calls these people “hypocrites” who are praying like this.

The third instance (verses 16-18), which was not read a few minutes ago, is in regards to fasting. Fasting was a regular part of faith in God in first century Judaism. Some people made it obvious that they were fasting – looking disfigured, acting out their discomfort and their hunger, and so forth. All in an effort, once again, to attract attention to oneself.

So the theme in these three examples is that an act of devotion, or an act of piety, which is between God and the believer, is being hijacked for another purpose. Rather than bringing glory to God, it's being used to bring glory to the person.

The fourth time Jesus uses this word is in regards judging others. Many people mis-understand this passage to mean “don't judge.” That's not what Jesus is saying here. People have that mis-understanding because many of us have heard or even memorized 7:1, usually in the King James English: “Judge not lest ye be judged.” What we usually fail to recognize is that the very next verse presumes that we judge. It's a given. Verse 2 lets us know that how we judge others is exactly how we will be judged. Judging is presumed to happen. And just a few verses later (7:15-20) Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets. He says, “You will know them by their fruits.” So, we look at the fruit of someone's life to determine – or judge – if they're false or true. So judging in and of itself is not prohibited. What God wants from us is to give a fair judgment. And that begins by judging ourselves. And Jesus uses this very colorful and vivid analogy to help us understand this when he talks about removing the log from our own eye before judging someone else about the speck in their own eye. In other words, take care of your own business before you start judging someone else's business.

All four of these instances – almsgiving, prayer, fasting, judging – are united by the fact that the proper carrying out of them is for the glory of God. We don't do them to attract attention to ourselves; we do them in private in the context of a relationship between ourselves and God. Now, this appears to be in contradiction with Matthew 5:16, which is the verse that talks about letting “our light shine before all people so they may see our good works.” The entirety of that verse is, however, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Mathew 5:16).

You see, what Jesus is picking on in chapter 6 isn't about giving alms or praying or fasting in public…Engaging in those things are a demonstration of our commitment to God and a response to God. We do them to bring glory to God, not to ourselves. What he's questioning is our motivation. When we have false motives – such as bring glory to ourselves rather than to God – we're acting hypocritically. When we judge someone else without judging ourselves in the same way, we're acting hypocritically. Motives matter. Admittedly, knowing someone's motives is hard to do. But it's not impossible: that's why Jesus tells us to judge people by their fruit.

Is the televangelist who asks for money to support the ministry doing so out of Godly motives or not? Is the person who volunteers to teach a Sunday school class doing so out of Godly motives or not? Are you and I serving God, his church, and the people in our community because we have a heart to bring glory to our Father in heaven? Or do we do these things because we want recognition? We can know by the fruit of our labors. I'm reminded of the age-old question, “If a tree falls and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” If there's an opportunity to serve the Lord, but no one's there to praise us for our work, do we still serve? If we don't serve unless we get public accolades and credit, then Jesus says to you and me as he did to some of the people listening to his message, “you're a hypocrite.”

Watch this video clip and see how preposterous it seems when people act with motives of self-glorification and self-service, rather than God-glorification and God-service when it comes to their commitment to church…(If you're reading this on-line, you can see the video clip here.)

Hypocrisy is at the heart of “meChurch.” Of all things, being a part of a church – its worship, its finances, its ministries – being a part of a church community ought to be a decision we make because we want to glorify God, rather than simply glorifying our own schedules and needs.

I'll be honest with you: This is a huge question for pastors and staff of church. If I wasn't a pastor, would I still be serving God through his church? I sure hope so! And in fact, I'm sure I would. Maybe my form of service would look different – I probably wouldn't be preaching every Sunday – but hopefully I'd be playing drums in the worship band regularly, teaching a children's Sunday School class, and serving the church as an elder on a children's ministry committee. If my response is that “if I weren't a pastor, I wouldn't be serving God faithfully,” then I'm the ultimate hypocrite!

So…What are our motives for doing what we do? And where are we in our relationship with God when we do these things? Do we pray because and so that our relationship with God would be right? Do we judge fairly and rightly because we have a right relationship with God and we've judged ourselves with the same measure we judge others? Or do we have other motives? Do we have other standards?

For people who are not a part of a church community, it's easy to look at the church and say, “They're hypocrites.” And that's a fair assessment. Jesus has already told us that. That doesn't mean it's right…but it is true that the church is full of people who are hypocritical. And if you're not part of a church community, I invite you to walk on this journey of faith with a bunch of other hypocrites here at WPC.

For those of us who already pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ, the question becomes: What are we who are part of the church going to do about this negative perception? Because if we're going to continue the mission that Jesus had of seeking and saving the lost, we have to find a way to change people's perception of the church.

Fortunately, Jesus tells us what to do in these verses. Jesus tells us that our giving to those in need is simply to be done out of a commitment to God. Don't even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In other words, don't scheme about how you can give in such a way that it benefits you. Just give. When you're praying, keep it between you and God. Public praying is fine – our family prays whenever we eat out at a restaurant – but Jesus tells us to do it with a right motive.

And the same is true with judging. This is probably the one for which our faith gets the most negative publicity. Many of us can recall the names of Christians who have publicly cast judgment on someone or on certain sinful and immoral conduct, only to later to be caught engaged in that very same thing. And inevitably, the word “hypocrite” is attached to that person, and the Christian faith is attacked as well. And the belief that the church is full of hypocrites continues. But it's not just famous Christians who bring the accusation of hypocrisy upon us, and it's not just famous Christians who bear the responsibility of living holy lives.

And so I come back to my question: How do we as Christians change this perception? I believe the answer is: By becoming closer to God. By growing in our faith. By growing in our knowledge of Scripture, and growing in our living by Scripture. By growing in our service to and for God. Paul writes in Colossians, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for people, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24). The closer we are in our walk with God, the more our hearts, our minds, our wills, and our motives will be in line with God's. You and I can have a positive impact on the community around us and their perceptions of Christians when you and I live Godly lives…when you and I live Biblically-based lives…when you and I live prayerful lives…when you and I live out our Christian faith each and every day. In our society, that's not easy to do, but that's not an excuse for not trying.

Dwight Moody tells the story of a young man who enlisted in the army, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.

"Well," said the chaplain, "you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them." For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked –  "By the way, did you take my advice?"

"I did, for two or three nights."

"How did it work?"

"Well," said the young man, "I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed."

"Well," asked the chaplain, "How did that work?"

The young soldier answered: "We have a prayer meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest."³

When we remain persistent in our faith, and by the grace of God continue forward in our devotion to him, we will see fruit in our lives. Let your light shine before all people so that they will praise their Father who is in heaven. Keep shining the light, even in the face of persecution and charges of hypocrisy, and remain faithful to our Lord and Savior. Jesus said, “Your [Heavenly] Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:4, 6:6, 6:18). This week, try living for the glory of God, and not yourself. When we do things for God, it doesn't matter much whether we get praise or contempt from people. We can rest in the assurance that we've served God, and that ultimately, our reward will be in heaven. Let's pray…Amen.