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WHY ARE THERE SO MANY HYPOCRITES IN THE CHURCH?


Has this ever happened to you?  You have guests coming over in a few hours and you have no idea what to make?  Your kid breaks his/her “favorite-est” toy (and if you can’t fix it their entire world will fall apart)?  You just got a stain on your go-to sweater and you don’t know how to get it out?

What do you do?  If you’re like me (and millions of people around the world), you go to Google University.  It is remarkable how you can learn how to do just about anything by simply searching on Google.  I have a friend who wanted to renovate his kitchen on his own, but there was one problem – he had zero experience renovating anything.  So, what did he do?  He searched “How to Renovate Your Kitchen” on Google, watched hours-upon-hours of tutorial videos, and he actually did it (with some help from professional plumbers and electricians, of course).  If you have the willpower and have internet access to Google, you can do just about anything!  

This morning I Googled “how to not be a hypocrite.”  The top four search results were from counseling-related websites.  As you can imagine, every tip offered was focused on the individual’s ability to fight against acting upon their hypocritical urges.  I believe there’s value in the advice given from these websites.  However, I believe there is one glaring omission from all those sites: we can’t live a life without hypocrisy on our own power (or on our own).

Apostle Paul made it very clear in Romans chapter 3 how imperfect and broken we all are:
    v.10 “None is righteous, no, not one.”
    v.23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

I greatly appreciate Paul’s honest confession in Romans 7:15-20:
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

Can you relate to Paul’s frustration?  When was the last time you did something you did not want to do, or not do something you did want to do?  Last week?  Yesterday?  Or right before you stumbled upon this sermon blog?
 
In yesterday’s sermon we looked at Jesus’ talk on The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and his Woe statements to the Pharisees in Matthew 23.  When you compare the two texts, you see the clear difference between the Kingdom Life (Matthew 5) and the Hypocrite Life (Matthew 23).  Just so we’re on the same page, God desires all to live the Kingdom Life for this is the only way to experience the “abundant life” that Jesus promised in John 10:10.  


HOW TO LIVE THE KINGDOM LIFE

Friends, in order to live this Kingdom Life, it begins with the honest confession that comes from the first line of The Beatitudes: “I am poor in Spirit.”  In his book, The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask, Mark Mittelberg wrote:
Though we have been forgiven and called to turn from sin, we still encounter pain, disappointment, hurt, troubles, and temptations, and yes, we all struggle with sin. This is the dichotomy that is troubling for us, as well as others, to see. God does not wave a magic wand and make all our struggles disappear. The work that he has begun in us has been initiated but not completed.

“We all struggle with sin.”  This confession reveals two things: we are not perfect and we need help.  “Poor in Spirit” means being spiritually bankrupt.  This is a recognition that you did nothing to earn salvation from your sins, you did nothing to earn God’s blessings and you did nothing to earn entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.  These are all received by God’s grace and faith/reliance in Jesus.  To be spiritually bankrupt is to be brutally honest with your shortcomings and confess: “Without Jesus, I have nothing.  Without Jesus, I can’t save myself.  Without Jesus, I can’t live the kind of life God desires for me.  I can’t live the Kingdom Life without Jesus.  I need Jesus!”  The “I need Jesus” life isn’t passive.  It’s a passionate pursuit of Jesus.  It involves an active obedience to His written Word, a listening ear to His gentle whispers or His loud warnings, and a heart that is constantly surrendered to Him. This is the posture all Jesus-followers must have till the day the Lord calls them to their heavenly home.  

The Kingdom Life also needs other Kingdom-minded friends.  The Christian faith journey was never meant to be a solo journey.  The Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) exists within a loving community.  As people made in the image of God, we too are created to exist in a loving community.  There is an old African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”  There’s power in community.

I mentioned in the sermon that in 2006, for months I was living with blinders over my eyes, making excuses-after-excuses and not owning the fact that I was living a hypocritical life.  By God’s grace, those blinders were ripped off one night in November.  When I finally saw myself with clarity, I had two clear choices: continue living this double-life or begin living a life of integrity (the Kingdom Life).  Thankfully, I chose the latter, and the first thing I did was get connected to a small group of Kingdom-minded guys.  

To live a Kingdom Life, you must be honest about your struggles and shortcomings with trusted, Kingdom-minded people.  For some, this comes easy.  Not for me.  It was frightening to let my guard down and let others know the real me.  You see, I worked hard for many years to build up a certain reputation.  My nickname in high school was “Church Boy” because I was at church 3-5 days per week, serving or doing whatever I could to help out.  I never verbally acknowledged this when I was in high school but I loved that nickname because it came with a reputation of “the good Christian.”  So, I worked hard to build on that reputation, even if it meant hiding all the hypocritical areas of my life.  

One of the hardest things I had to do was shatter that false-image, or Hypocritical Image, I worked so hard to build.  In order to do that, I needed the inner strength that came from the Holy Spirit and I needed someone who could see the real me, not judge nor condemn me, and still love the real me, not the fake me.  By His grace, God led four Kingdom-minded brothers into my life who accepted the real me, loved the real me and championed my passionate pursuit to live a Kingdom Life.  During our regular hangouts, we asked each other hard but necessary questions.  Whenever a lie was exposed, whenever we smelled a hint of hypocrisy, we called it out and spoke Truth in its place with love and grace.    

I confess with 100% confidence that I am not the man I was in November 2006.  My life-transformation, my character development, and my spiritual maturation were only possible by the power of Christ that flows in me and the support of trusted, Kingdom-minded friends.

There’s more that could be said about how to live a Kingdom Life (or a life not marked by hypocrisy).  I encourage you to adopt some of the helpful tips offered through your professional counselors on how not to be hypocritical.  As followers of Jesus Christ, let us never move away from the posture of “I need Jesus” and “I need Kingdom-minded friends.” 

God is for you!
God is with you!
You can do this!