Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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On hypocrisy in the church

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The Charge of hypocrisy

Charge of Hypocrisy

One common criticism of the church is that it is full of hypocrites, people who say one thing and do another. The problem with countering this criticism is that it is true. If we are honest, we will have to admit that none of us lives up to our own standard of behavior, let alone the standard set before us in Scripture. We all practice some level of hypocrisy in that there is a gap between what we know to be right behavior and how we actually live. I call this the belief gap.

The question is not whether there is a gap between belief and practice, the important question is whether members of the church are actively seeking God for the purpose of closing that gap.

The church is not alone

I feel the need to point out that the church does not have a monopoly on hypocrisy.  In every sphere of human activity a higher standard of behavior is held than is lived. The gap between stated belief and actual practice is no less a problem outside the church than in it. Hypocrisy seems to be a universal problem.

The point of this post is not to excuse hypocrisy in the church, it is right to condemn it. The point is that we should evaluate a system on how effective it is in narrowing the belief gap.

The response

One way of narrowing the gap is to reduce the standard. If we have lower expectations, if we reduce the standard to the lowest common denominator, then perhaps the belief gap will be closed.

In western society, we have lowered our standards for what is considered decent and respectable. A short stint at channel surfing in the evening will produce ample evidence of the lowering of standards. It may be accurate to say the belief gap has been narrowed by this method, but are we willing to say that individuals and society are better off with the lower standard?

The other way to go about closing the gap is to seek help from outside. This is the Christian way. We seek the help of God to be better tomorrow than we are today. As John Newton so nicely puts it

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”

Jude identifies Jesus as the one who is able to close the belief gap by growing us closer to the standard. Jude writes:

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25, NASB)

If we, as Christians, are right about who Jesus is and if we stand in relationship to him, we have the hope of one day standing in his presence as blameless. Then, and only then, will the belief gap be finally closed.

Amen!

A victim of friendly fire

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The rejection

Avoid Friendly FireIt has been said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. Not only have I been in situations where this has been true, sometimes the church caused the wounds in the first place. I have been the victim of friendly fire and have observed others who have been targeted by those who should have been their friends.

I have seen friendly fire incidents take place in situations where someone is ostracized because he doesn’t fit the mold of the church he has joined. The offense could be something as innocuous as being socially inappropriate (as the group sees it), being too needy, being too outspoken or having a bad reputation. I have seen genuine, God-fearing believers rejected for superficial and un-Biblical reasons.

The result

Jesus said that it would be better to jump off a bridge with a millstone around your neck than to cause someone to stumble in faith (a loose paraphrase of Matthew 18:6). Jesus takes this type of rejection very seriously and those who practice it will certainly be called to account.

If we are called to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), certainly we should be able to find in our hearts the ability to love those who merely annoy us, especially if they are Christians. We do not have the luxury of putting out our brothers or sisters just because we do not like something about the way they go about life.

To be rejected by fellow Christians hurts far worse than any rejection by a non-believer. We expect that our atheist neighbor might have a strong dislike for our faith. We understand that our non-believing coworkers will think us odd for going to Church. What we don’t expect is that Christians would ostracize other Christians. To the pain of rejection is added the pain of betrayal, for rejection by other believers is exactly that: betrayal.

I have experienced this type of betrayal and it is difficult to recover from it. The wounds are deep and all the more painful for being unnecessary. One of the lingering effects of this woundedness is a reluctance to be open and honest, even in a healthy, supportive situation.

The response

I encourage church leaders to conduct as many exit interviews as possible to find out why people have left your church. In some cases they left over preference issues (style of music, available programs, etc.), but sometimes people leave for more troubling reasons. If people leave because they do not feel welcomed or accepted, you have a serious problem.

Yes, there are some Eeyores out there that will never be pleased no matter where they go, but these are few. Do not allow yourself the luxury of thinking that everyone who feels left out or complains about things at your church is doing so because he has a critical spirit and will never be pleased.

Take the feedback seriously and learn from it. You may find that the reason that these people annoy you is because they highlight an area in your life which God wants to change.

Do not initiate a friendly fire incident in an attempt to avoid dealing with your own issues.

On the need for a heart transplant

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The heart of stone

Heart of StoneIt would seem to me that the depravity of man should not be in question given our track record for violence, greed, selfishness and prejudice.

The problem is that as a result of the rebellion in the garden, we have been damaged. This damage affects our thoughts and emotions. As a result, we cannot respond to God properly without his grace being poured out to change us.

If you acknowledge this as true, then the functional question then becomes “what can be done about it?”

In two places in the prophetic book that bears his name, Ezekiel diagnoses our problem by telling the nation of Israel that they had hearts of stone:

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” (Ezekiel 11:19, NASB)

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26, NASB)

If we are honest, we will admit that apart from the work of God in our lives, we possess hearts of stone that cannot respond properly to God or to others.

Behavior modification doesn’t work

Too much of the preaching I have heard over the years boils down to behavior modification, pray more, read more, give more, complain less . . . etc. To tell someone what to do without giving them the tools to do it is foolishness.

Real change cannot take place without the Grace of God working in us to transform our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. Apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ being operative in my life, I have little hope for real, sustained change.

Preaching to the heart

This is why it is imperative to proclaim the gospel at every available teaching opportunity. Without the transformation that results from a relationship with Jesus Christ, change can only be external, superficial and perhaps temporary. Therefore preaching that does not first proclaim that transformation will only result in external change.

Paul tells us that we require transformation by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). From birth, our thoughts and emotions are tainted by the rebellion in the Garden. Our minds and heart (thinking and emotions) are in need of realignment.

The call to repentance

Therefore, the beginning place of preaching needs to be a call to repentance. The call to daily repentance can be seen in Jesus’ command for us to daily take up our cross (Luke 9:23). It is only after we correctly identify the source of our struggle that we can begin to apply correction. Jesus, when he began his earthly ministry, began by saying

Until we come face-to-face with our sin and have it dealt with at the Cross, we cannot truly begin to have a heart of flesh and deepen our relationship with God.

Oh, to have a heart of flesh that is in constant communion with God. One day . . .

Grace and sovereignty

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It’s a big world

God's Sovereignty over the EarthAs I am flying on a business trip I am struck by how big the world is and how many people there are in it. So far today I have been in two airports on my way to a third and I have seen thousands of people. Seeing all the lights of the city reminds me of how many millions of people are going about the business of life below me.

I suppose it is normal for each of us to want to make his mark on the world. We want to leave a positive legacy. Yet, few of us really get to influence large numbers of people.

As church leaders this is no less so. Setting aside the danger of pride in accomplishment, there is something positive about wanting to reach large numbers of people with the Gospel. Jesus wants us to do this.

The task is too big

But, even in a small town, this task can be overwhelming. We cannot reach everyone. We cannot exert as much influence as we would like. Not everyone responds to the message. Unless you live in a very, very small town, it is physically impossible to reach everyone with the good news.

So how do we keep from getting burned out or overwhelmed with the enormity of the task? This is where a proper understanding of the sovereignty of God comes into play. We are not called to do more than God gives us to do.

According to their ability

In the parable of the talents, Jesus tells us the story of a man who called his servants to him and gave them talents with which to do business until he returned. Matthew 25:14 tells us that he gave the first five talents, the second servant two and the third servant received one talent. Jesus further tells us that these were distributed according to their ability.

The story illustrates that we can only do what we’ve been given to do. The expectation of profit for the servant with five talents was much higher than the servant with one. So it is in real life. God gives some a greater sphere of influence.

But, too often those of us with one talent compare ourselves to the one with five and succumb to feelings of inferiority and failure. We have to keep in mind, that the standard of judgment is faithfulness in what we’ve been given to do, not the numerical result.

Rest in God’s sovereignty

So, if you are a pastor of a small flock, enjoy the flock that God has given you and remain faithful in your call. If you are a small group leader, Sunday School teacher, youth worker, nursery attendant or parking coordinator, serve and be confident of God’s approval if you are being faithful to your calling.

Yet, in that confidence, we also need to be open to God’s leading us into something bigger and more challenging. But, for us to achieve the desired result, the bigger challenge must come at God’s prompting and not our own grand design.

It is a big world, but God has not lost track of all the billions of people in it. We can be confident that his plan for humanity will not be thwarted and all we have to do is be faithful where we are while being open to the idea that he may choose to use us in a bigger way than we ever thought possible.

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