HYPOCRISY: WHEN YOU GET BURNED BY RELIGION

What Does God say about Hypocrisy!

I was talking to a leader I’d never met and when he found out what I do, he immediately let me know he did not want anything to do with religion. I said, “Wow, it sounds to me that you have had a bad experience with religion.” Indeed, he had. He told me the whole ugly story from forty years prior. All I could do was say, “I’m so sorry and that should have never, ever have happened.” He seemed touched by those words of empathy. I said, “Would it be O.K. if we didn’t talk about religion but talked about Jesus?” He said that would be O.K. and we had a meaningful 30 more minutes of conversation.

Many today are legitimately troubled by issues of Hypocrisy. These may be things from the past like the Salem witch trials or the Inquisition or current day clergy sex abuse or financial exploitation scandals. Many times, the issue is something personally experienced that has produced deep wounds. These things are deeply concerning or should be to all of us.

I try to urge people to not let the sins of others keep them from Jesus. In fact, I tell people if you hate hypocrisy, you and Jesus should be good friends. No one stood up to hypocrisy more than Jesus and it ended up getting him killed. The word Hypocrite is used 17 times in the New Testament. Every time it is used by Jesus. He is the enemy of dead religion and his words to hypocritical religious leaders were stinging in calling them whitewashed tombs, blind guides, and snakes.

I often say, “Imagine someone stole a stack of your business cards and went on an all-night rampage breaking into cars and business, destroying property and wreaking havoc. Imagine they left one of your business cards at the scene of each of their crimes. The next morning the police show up at your door and accuse you of these criminal deeds. What would you say? Do not accuse me of things that were done in my name that I had nothing to do with! I think that’s what Jesus would say, “Don’t reject me for things that some do in my name”.

Our Faith stands on the Person of Jesus Christ not on the performance of his followers. If Jesus was a hypocrite, the whole structure of our faith crumples into a heap. But he wasn’t. He was perfect in every action, thought, word and motive. No one could accuse Jesus of sin. Even Pontius Pilate could find no sin in him. Don’t miss out on a relationship with Jesus because of someone else’s inconsistency. It would be foolish to let resentment against hypocrisy prevent you from receiving the priceless gift of the grace of God. Christ said, “that religious hypocrites will not escape the sentence of hell” (Matthew 23:33). Why spend an eternity with religious hypocrites by rejecting Christ?

Dr. Michael Sprague is the Louisiana State Chaplain with the Capitol Commission and President of Grace Adventures. Michael does life with his wonderful wife Donna and resides in Mandeville, LA. His motto is “Bet the Farm on God.” You can find more information about Michael here.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash