Are you a hypocrite? Or just human?
In his book "The Grace Awakening," pastor and author Charles Swindoll warned, "You want to mess up the minds of your children? Here's how – guaranteed! … Fake your faith. Sneak around and pretend your spirituality. … Act one way but live another. And you can count on it – emotional and spiritual damage will occur."
I do believe that being a hypocrite in the home is a stumbling block. It can have a horrible impact on our children, who watch everything we say and do. We want to be honest. We want to be true. And we don't want to be hypocrites. In fact, hypocrisy is one of the most common reasons non-Christians cite for not wanting to go to church.
The problem is that whenever people are involved, there will be hypocrisy. But let's understand what a hypocrite actually is. Sometimes I hear people throw that word around when they see inconsistency in a Christian's life. However, a hypocrite isn't someone who believes something and then falls short of it. That doesn't make us hypocrites; that makes us human.
Christians are imperfect people trying to serve a perfect God. And every Christian falls short. Even the great apostle Paul made this candid admission: "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate" (Romans 7:15 NLT).
That wasn't necessarily a description of his everyday experience. Rather, it was an honest admission from the apostle's heart. Having said that, it doesn't mean that we should settle for such an existence.
Instead, we should seek to be godly people. Paul also wrote, "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead" (Philippians 3:13 NLT).
The further we go in the Christian life, the further we realize that we must go. The more we grow spiritually, the more we discover that we must grow spiritually.
Thus, a hypocrite isn't someone who simply fails to live everything they believe. A hypocrite is something different altogether. The word "hypocrite" comes from a term that refers to wearing a mask.
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When I was a kid, we'd put on rubber masks and pretend to be someone we weren't. But we weren't fooling anyone. People knew we were pretending. And we knew we were pretending. The problem with hypocrites is they think they're more convincing than they really are.
In the New Testament book of Acts, we find the story of two hypocrites, Ananias and Sapphira. They found out the hard way that you can't fool God. And God dealt with them harshly, reminding us that God really hates the sin of hypocrisy.
When Jesus walked this earth, he saved his most scathing words for the religious elite of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees. These men had dedicated their lives to keeping Jewish laws, even praying dutifully three times a day. These men put on a great performance, but inside, their hearts were dark and evil. For all practical purposes, the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Roman government conspired to bring about the execution of the Messiah.
Jesus didn't have harsh words for garden-variety sinners, although he did confront them. But he also loved them and extended grace to them. Meanwhile, he reserved his harsher words for those who pretended to be something they actually were not.
It's important that we understand why God dealt so severely with Ananias and Sapphira. They had committed a specific sin that still can be committed today: they lied to the Holy Spirit.
What does that mean, exactly? They pretended to be something they were not. They wanted others to think they were more devoted to God than they were. At this point, the first-century church was living together communally, because there was intense persecution of Christians. Believers had lost their homes and incomes, so other believers with resources and means were helping out.
Everyone had the option of doing whatever God led them to do. So, some were taking property, selling it, and giving the money to the church. This included Ananias and Sapphira, who sold some property but acted as though they had given more of the proceeds to God than they did. The issue here wasn't about giving or not giving. The issue was about lying.
Ironically, the name Ananias means "God is gracious." But Ananias also found out that God is holy. The name Sapphira means "beautiful." But she found out how ugly sin can be.
When Peter gave Ananias the opportunity to tell the truth, Ananias neglected to do so. Then Peter told him, "The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren't lying to us but to God!" (Acts 5:4 NLT)
The Bible goes to say that "as soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died" (verse 5). Unaware of what had just happened to her husband, Sapphira came in next. She told the same lie that Ananias did, and she, too, died on the spot.
It's better to be a sinner and admit it than to pretend to be something you're really not. That was the problem with Ananias and Sapphira. They were actors. They were putting on a show, and no one was buying it. Especially God.
Jesus, speaking of his return, gave us this warning: "Watch out! Don't let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don't let that day catch you unaware, like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth" (Luke 21:34–35 NLT).
We shouldn't be concerned with pointing out the hypocrites among us. What we should be concerned with is making sure that we are true believers.
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