• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Bible Reflection On hypocrisy in the church

On hypocrisy in the church

Posted on September 7, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 6 Comments


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!


Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: Church, hypocrisy

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Working together in ministry – No solo acts

If the entire church body is ministering together in the community, not only will the pastor influence the congregation, the congregation will influence the pastor. When this happens the congregation will “stimulate one another to love and good deeds,” (Hebrews 10:24)

A Twitter Milestone

I’m relatively new to Twitter, but I did just passed a milestone. This morning I sent out my 1,000th Tweet: RT @artiedavis: Giving away 10-Copies! of @scottwilliams new book: Diversity here> http://ow.ly/4LYAI. Just RT this, and leave comment. — Mark McIntyre (@mhmcintyre) May 3, 2011 In the grand scheme of things, this is not a […]

St. Augustine of Hippo

A Thought from Saint Augustine

In the Confessions, Saint Augustine describes a depraved soul as “falling away from security in you to destruction in itself.” I like the way that Augustine puts this. When I make moral choices, I am choosing between God or self, light or darkness, building or destruction. There is no middle ground. Yet there is hope. […]

Death, life and the love of God

Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Why then do I often act as if I have to earn God’s love?

A. W. Tozer

Tozer: the truth about exposition –

I received an email containing the quote from A. W. Tozer and thought it worth sharing: Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such […]

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2022 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in