Dinner with Jesus - Week 6
October 12, 2008
Jesus, Why Is The Church Filled With Hypocrites?
Matthew 23

There are a lot of excuses people make not to go to church. I heard a lot over the years. But I read something this week that caught my attention. If you applied the same arguments people use for not going to church to something as simple as not taking a bath, they start sounding a little different.

 

I don’t bathe because….

1.     I was forced to bathe as a child

2.     People who make soap are only after your money

3.     I bathe on special occasions like Christmas and Easter

4.     People who wash are hypocrites –they think they are cleaner than everyone else

5.     There are so many different kinds of soup, I can’t decide which one to use

6.     I used to bathe, but it got boring so I quit

7.     The bathroom is never warm enough in the winter or cool enough in the summer

8.     I’ll start bathing when I get older

9.     none of my friend bathe

10.  I just can’t find the time

 

One of the most common excuses for not going to church, or even not following Jesus is that “the church is full of hypocrites!”  And admittedly there is a lot of that going around. Some times those acts of hypocrisy hit the headlines. We have all seen pastors of huge churches claim to only want to help people and take money from people who can barely afford to live to pay for their private jets. We seen prominent leaders claim to follow God and yet secretly they live immoral lives. Sometimes those acts of hypocrisy are day in and day out occurrences. One lady told me her father couldn’t become a Christian because he had seen how Christian men acted in the business world. One man told me about his friend who had been mistreated in the church, and couldn’t go back. If you are honest, this really is a huge issue.

 

Charles Barkley –the great basketball player and sports announcer is infamous for his quote in a Nike ad almost 10 years ago where he says simply, “I’m no role model”.  Unfortunately, a lot of Christ followers have adopted his slogan. We like to make statements like, “No one’s perfect” or “I’m only human” or “follow Jesus not me” as a way to cover ourselves. And there is a good reason. In one resent study, 84% of people that don’t attend a church personally knew at least one committed Christian. But 15% said that the Christians lifestyle as different from the norm. It’s almost like saying, “Hey, don’t look at me for an example – I’m no role model”. This is one of the reasons why there are so many kids, growing up in Christian homes, leaving the church never to return again. They simply see the way their parents live outside the walls of the church– and they see the way other “Christian kids” live outside of church – and they can’t see any likeness of Christ. They just assume that it’s all fake, and they simply walk away.

So I want to talk today about hypocrisy. And I want you to hear what Jesus has to say about this subject.

 

Jesus and the Hypocrites

The religious leaders of his day – Pharisees - were eaten up with hypocrisy. They were so enamored with themselves and their own status, that they didn’t’ care much about anything or anyone else. And Jesus stood up to and exposed hypocrisy courageously. It is exactly because of his stance against hypocrisy that the religious leaders plotted to have Jesus killed. Now it’s easy to hear a message like this and say, “Way to go preacher, let them have it!” But I want you to think about yourself for a minute. What hypocrisy lies with you? The truth is, we all have some level of hypocrisy in us don’t we? List to Jesus’ words to these religious leaders!

 

Matthew 23.1-11; 13-15; 23-28

 

The word hypocrisy comes from a Greek word: hupo-krisis which means to pretend. It was a term used in ancient plays where there were only a few people acting and one person had to play more than one role. So they would come out with a mask on and act one part, then go change his mask and act another part.

 

I loved wearing masks as a kid. I watched Batman when it was on TV. And after that show was over I would get old T-shirts and cut them up into a mask. And I would clip a towel around my neck and let it hand down like a cape and I would pretend I was Batman! Then  I remember one time, a friend of mine had his mom actually make us really cool masks and capes – it was professional looking and we pretended we were Batman and Robin! Then I remember when the first Batman movie came out. I was now married and I went to the show with a group of guys. And one of my buddies bought a Batman mask, the full headpiece like in the movie. It was really cool – except he put his glasses on over the top – kind of lost its effect. As I think back on that – the older I got the mask became more professional, more sophisticated –but they were masks none the less. And that’s the way is it with hypocrisy. We wear masks. And the old we get the more sophisticated they become. But we pretend. We pretend like we have it all together when we don’t. We pretend our marriage is great when it’s not. We pretend we are moral when we are not. We pretend to walk with God when we don’t.  And what Jesus was doing was taking the mask that these religious guys were wearing and he ripped it off! And they didn’t like it!

 

At the core – hypocrisy is just pretending to be something you not. And we can be really good. Like this piece of fruit. You can’t tell the difference! One is the real thing, one isn’t. You can’t tell until you bite into it! And when people get close enough to see what you are all about, what do they see.

 

The damaging thing about hypocrisy is that is turns people off to the truth. Jesus put it clearly in MT 23.13 “you shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces” Think about that. When your life is built on pretense, it slams the door of heaven in men’s faces. They can’t accept truth, if you aren’t walking in it!

 

Laws, Lies and Lip Service

As I have thought about this a lot this week – and let God deal with me in area of my own life, I discovered that there are some things that cause hypocrisy to grow in our lives. Let me give you three words.

 

The first word is laws. Hypocrisy grows in an environment of legalism. The Pharisees were all about rules, laws, requirements, behavior. Their whole understanding of knowing God was based on following rules and strict standards and being better. This is what Jesus was getting at when he said, “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected to more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.” MT 23.23 These guys were so legalistic they would tithe a 10^th not just of their money, but of the smallest spices they had in their kitchen. But they lost sight of the heart of the law, the forgot about justice and mercy and faithfulness. That can happen to us. We can get so legalistic about the clothes people wear, whether a person wears shorts or a cap, or weather a person follow our rules – and forget about the things that really matter like, do they know Jesus? Are we showing them mercy? Are we extending grace? If you are more concerned about rules that people, then something is really off kilter.

 

The second word is lies - Hypocrisy grows when perception is more important than reality. To these Pharisees, being seen –and being perceived a certain way, was more important that who they were on in the inside. Jesus said, (v5) “Everything they do is done for men to see.” What a statement. Everything they did was to be seen. They prayed on the streets, they wore their prayer shawls; they sat at the banquet feats –all to be seen. Their image matter more than anything. And they protected it at all costs! He called them cups that look clean on the outside, but they were filthy on the inside. He calls them tombs that glisten in the sunlight, beautiful, clean – but on the inside there was a rotting corps. Things are so different today. We live in a culture that is consumed with perception. That’s why people live in huge houses with no furniture. That’ why people drive expensive cars but can’t make pay the utility bill. We want to be perceived a certain way. And when that seeps into your walk with God – when we lie to protect our image, when we are more concerned with how people will see us or what they think about us than what is really going on inside – then something is really wrong.

 

The third words are lip service – Hypocrisy grows when people give lip service to God, but has never experienced a true spiritual transformation in their own lives. That is what trouble Jesus so much. These men were pretending to speak for God, but they had never met him. He said, “…you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea tot win a single convert and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are!” Matthew 23.15  Strong words! Jesus was saying, “You don’t know God yourself, but you are busy pretending that you do!” Listen, Christians aren’t perfect. I can tell you that for sure. I’m not perfect! But that’s the whole point of grace and forgiveness. The message of the gospel is that even though we are a mess and a wreck, even though we are hardened sinners, we can fine hope in Christ. We can be made new in Christ. We can break free from the destructive patters of our lives and enjoy a real, relationship with God through Christ! But that requires being honest with God about our sin. Honest with other people about our failures and asking Jesus to forgive and lead our lives! We are all in different stages in life, we are all in process.

 

Now look at those three things. Laws, Lies and Lip Service –they all contribute to hypocrisy in our lives. So what are you going to do about it? The only antidote for hypocrisy is to take the mask off! The opposite of hypocrisy is authenticity. To be real with God, real with yourself and real with the people in your life! And that means different things to different people.

 

Taking Off the Mask

There are three kinds of people here today.

 

Imperfect Follower – Some of you today fit into this category. You have met Jesus, you have experienced his grace, but you still have a long ways to go in your spiritual walk. Honestly, this is a lot of us here today. Here is my challenge to you, don’t be a hypocrite! What you do, how you live is being impressed on your children! What you do and how you live is being watched by unbelievers. You are either a stepping stone to Jesus or a stumbling block keeping people from Jesus. What do I need to do?  1) Embrace grace – accept the fact that Jesus died for your sins, don’t fall into the trap of legalism – imposing rules and regulation instead of a passion for Jesus himself, 2) Be real – be open and honest with your own struggles – don’t pretend to be some thing you are not. Live in integrity. Be honest. Be open. That starts with God. Maybe today you just need to get on your knees and confess to God areas of your life you have been covering up. 3) Pursue knowing Jesus. Ask him tot transform you into a new person from the inside out.

 

Religious Lost – Some of you here today fit this category. You are very religious but you have never had a life changing encounter with Jesus. Now listen, this was the kind of person Jesus spent most of his time talking to. Jesus exposed them, put a spot light on them and said, “It doesn’t matter how good you are, how religious you are – you need God’s righteousness that comes from accepting Jesus. Don’t rely on religion. It’s obvious to everyone but you! When you stand before God, it will not matter if you were a deacon, ss teacher, or a pastor – it won’t matter who many times you did good things. Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, didn’t we …I never knew you.” The real issue is this – does Jesus know you? I have a friend, who was chairman of Deacons, lost. Another friend working on church staff, lost. Preacher Hallock, pastor but lost. Religious but lost.

 

Disenchanted Seeker – You are not a Christian, or you are unchurched because you have seen hypocrisy up close and personal. I understand. I've seen it too up close, in other people and in the mirror. But listen; don’t let the failures of others keep you from God. You are capable of being just a judgmental as you accuse Christians of being. We all need more grace in our lives. At the end of the day, you are going to have to give an account of yourself to God, and it really doesn’t matter what other people do, what only matters is what you do with Jesus.