Isn't the Church Full of Hypocrites? (01/11/2009)

We’ve all met hypocrisy. I guess we meet it first in our parents – like the story of the boy who came home from a fishing trip with his Dad and told his Mum that he’d caught a fish ‘this big’. To which Dad said, ‘Look, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times: don’t exaggerate!’ And then we meet it at school – like the English teacher who tells you to avoid clichés like the plague. But then we meet it in the church. One friend grew up being taken to church, but turned her back on it at university. I asked her recently what she thought about Christianity and she said, ‘I find it hard to take seriously when the last vicar I knew back home ran off not just with the money but with another man’s wife.’ And I could multiply examples – from the church’s involvement in the crusades to paedophile ‘priest’ scandals. And you could add your own stories of how the behaviour of Christians – maybe even in this church – has disillusioned you. As Gandhi once famously said, ‘If you want me to believe in your Redeemer, you’re going to have to look a lot more redeemed.’

We’re in a series called ‘The Big Questions’ and tonight’s is this: ‘Isn’t the church full of hypocrites?’ And often, behind that question, is the attitude that says, ‘And doesn’t that destroy the credibility of Christianity and give me permission to walk away from it, or not even give it a look?’

And the first thing I want to do is to admit, on behalf of the Christians here, that our behaviour does constantly fall short of what we say we believe. So if you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing but lives another, Christians are all hypocrites. And if we here have put you off in that way, I apologise for us.

But for the rest of our time, I want Jesus to do the talking. So would you turn in the Bibles to Matthew’s Gospel and chapter 7. And we’re going to look at the last bit of a chunk of Jesus’ teaching which is often called ‘the sermon on the mount’. But before we do, can I say: these are not just the words of a great moral teacher offering great moral advice. Look down to Matthew chapter 7.21-23, where Jesus says:

²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day [ie, the day Jesus wraps up history and judges the living and the dead. ‘Many will say to me on that day...’], 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy [ie, preach] in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Now just take in what Jesus is claiming there about himself. He’s saying we should call him, ‘Lord’ – the Bible’s name for God. He’s saying we will all meet him as our Judge. And he’s saying he will determine our eternal destiny beyond this life – whether it’s heaven or hell. And if those claims sound ridiculous and offensive, coming (apparently) from a mere man, then a read to the end of Matthew’s Gospel will show you why we believe he wasn’t (and isn’t) a mere man. Because having been put to death on a cross for those very claims, he rose again from the dead, as the great sign that the claims were true.

And these words we’re going to look at are to help each of us be ready for that day we meet him. So my first point is this:

Firstly, THE HYPOCRISY OF THE FALSE CHRISTIAN

Look at Matthew chapter 7, v15. Jesus says:

"Watch out for false prophets [ie, people who claim to speak for me, but don’t even really know me]. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

So Jesus is fully aware of the vicars who run off with the money or other men’s wives. And that is hypocrisy. I said just now that if you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing but lives another, Christians are all hypocrites. But that’s not the definition of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is pretence – knowingly living a lie – in this case, professing to have Jesus as Lord while deliberately living in contradiction of his will.And those outside the church who cry, ‘Hypocrite!’ are absolutely right in expecting Christians to be different. Because they still have some inkling that Christianity isn’t just a belief system – but that Jesus spoke about people being ‘born again’, and that a genuine Christian is someone who’s had that experience of coming into relationship with God – and that it changes them.

And that is what the Bible says. It says that by nature we don’t want God ruling our lives – we push him out of mind and take the throne ourselves. And that’s why he sent his Son into the world in the person of Jesus to die for our forgiveness and then rise again. Because unless we are forgiven back into relationship with God, and changed to live for him, we’re on a collision course with him as we head towards that day Jesus spoke about. And a genuine Christian is someone who’s realised that Jesus should be on the throne of their lives, who’s found forgiveness from him for all they’ve done wrong, and who’s received him into their lives by his Spirit, who then enables them to live for him. And that’s what any genuine Christian here will tell you they want to do, and (albeit imperfectly) try to do. That’s the ‘fruit’ Jesus talks about next. Look on to vv16-20:

¹⁶By their fruit you will recognise them [ie, distinguish false Christians from genuine ones]. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.

So before I received Christ, I was (metaphorically speaking) a ‘bad’ tree – I had a nature that didn’t want him ruling my life. And although my behaviour wasn’t as evil as it could have been (so society didn’t lock me up), in God’s eyes, there was plenty of bad fruit. And it takes Jesus to make a bad tree good – it takes coming into relationship with him, above all it takes discovering the wonder that he died for you, to forgive and accept you just as you are. That’s what changes people to want to live for him in response. But it’s not a change to sinless perfection. It’s a complete change of direction but not, this side of heaven, a complete change of behaviour.

Let me try to illustrate that. Imagine you wanted me to drive up to Edinburgh. So I get in the car, head out to the A1 but then I turn south towards London and speed all the way there at 100mph. Now what’s wrong with that, from your point of view? Presumably my driving at 100. But fundamentally, my attitude to you in going off in completely my own direction. Now that’s a picture of what I looked like to God before I received Christ. My behaviour was wrong at numerous points. But more fundamentally, my direction was, too.

So back to the illustration. I return from London and I’ve had a complete change of heart. So this time, I do what you want me to: I head out to the A1, turn north towards Scotland and try to drive well all the way – although I still creep over the speed limit from time to time and once cause another car to swerve because I didn’t check my mirror. Now how does that look to you? This time, the direction is right. And although the driving isn’t perfect, it’s different. And that’s a picture of what someone looks like to God after they’ve received Christ. The fundamental direction is now right. And even though the behaviour isn’t anywhere near perfect, it’s different from what it was.

OK, now we can read on without misunderstanding it. Look at vv21-23:

²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Now people often misunderstand that. They think Jesus is saying, ‘You have to earn God’s acceptance by doing his will –and if you don’t do enough, you don’t get in.’ But that’s not what he’s saying at all. Remember: this is the person who died to pay for our forgiveness because we’re not good enough and can’t be. He’s earned our acceptance. So he’s not saying that doing his Father’s will is how we earn his acceptance. He’s saying that doing his Father’s will (albeit imperfectly) is how we evidence the fact that we’ve been accepted – it’s the ‘fruit’ of having been forgiven back into relationship with him. But where there’s no fruit, no change, no difference, professing Christians will hear those awful words, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer.’ So if you’re scandalised by the hypocrisies of false Christians, and how they seem to get away with it, rest assured that the risen Lord Jesus isn’t fooled, and that they have an appointment with him on that day. As do you and I.

So that’s the hypocrisy of the false Christian. To those of us professing to be Christians, they’re disturbing words. But it’s kind of the Lord to have spoken them. Because he’s out to protect us from self-deception – out to make us examine ourselves. Not to ask, ‘Am I obeying him perfectly?’ – to which the answer is always, ‘No’. But to ask, ‘Has my direction changed? And is my behaviour different?’

But then let me say something to those who wouldn’t call themselves Christians, and for whom Christian hypocrisy is a sticking-point and leaves you feeling that it destroys the credibility of Christianity. Can I ask, ‘Whose credibility does it destroy?’ Eg, the ‘priest’ in the paedophile scandal – whose credibility does that destroy? Obviously his. And obviously anyone who tries to hush it up. But it doesn’t destroy the credibility of other Christians who are doing their best to live for Christ. What about them? Eg, the church was complicit and complacent about the slave trade in this country – but it was a Christian, William Wilberforce, who got it abolished. You see, if you choose to judge Christianity by its worst examples, doesn’t that actually say something about your real level of open-mindedness? Doesn’t that actually suggest you’re looking for reasons to find against Christianity? And doesn’t that actually bear out the truth of what Jesus says here, that by nature we’re all (metaphorically speaking) bad trees – that by nature you don’t want to give Jesus his rightful place in your life, and that you may be using Christian hypocrisy to duck the real issue of making your own mind up about him?

Because above all: the credibility of Christ is not destroyed by Christian hypocrisy. And if you want to be a person of integrity, then regardless of the behaviour of Christians, you still have to make up your mind about him and his claim to be Lord and God, and the claim of eye-witnesses like Matthew that he really did rise from the dead. Please don’t mishear me: I’m not trying to minimise Christian hypocrisy, or just how much it may have put you off – I’m aware that for many it makes it much harder to look into the claims of Christ. But if that becomes your excuse for not looking, that actually lacks integrity.

So on to my second point, which is:

Second, THE IMPERFECTION OF THE GENUINE CHRISTIAN

I nearly called this ‘the hypocrisy of the genuine Christian’ – because like I said, if you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing but lives another, Christians are all hypocrites. But that’s not the definition of hypocrisy. It’s pretence – knowingly living a lie. And that’s not what genuine Christians are doing. If you watch one, you’ll definitely be disappointed by their failure to live up to what they profess. But that’s very different from being scandalised by someone pretending to be something they’re not – like the vicar running off with the money and the wife.

Eg, I remember leading on a Scripture Union holiday, and the rule was constantly laid down to us young leaders that we should never race one another in our cars. But having taken two car-loads of boys on an activity, as my fellow-leader and I were getting into our cars, he said, ‘I bet I’ll beat you back.’ Now we didn’t break the speed limit (as the Pharisee would say). But we did race. And we pulled up almost neck and neck in the car-park, spraying gravel. And the overall leader of the holiday was standing there, watching with a look that would have sunk a thousand ships. And feeling thoroughly ashamed, I turned to the boys in my car and said, ‘Guys, I apologise. That’s not how I should have driven.’ And I still remember what one of them – not a Christian – said. He said, ‘That’s OK. We didn’t expect you to be perfect.’

You see, if I’d pretended that my driving had been fine, or that the rules didn’t say no racing, that would have damaged my witness. That’s hypocrisy and it scandalises people. But what I’d actually shown was not hypocrisy, but imperfection plus integrity. And that doesn’t undermine our witness. In fact, it witnesses precisely to the truth of the gospel that we continue to be people who need Christ to forgive us and change us – which is what you need, if you’ve not yet received him.

Just turn back to Matthew 5 and the beginning of the sermon on the mount. We’ve been studying this in Home Groups: it’s where the Lord Jesus describes the genuine Christian, so that we can examine ourselves and be kept from self-deception. That’s the purpose of the whole sermon on the mount. So look at Matthew 5.1-2:

¹Now when [Jesus] saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ²and he began to teach them saying:
³"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So genuine Christians are poor in spirit – they admit they’re still sinners, that although they’ve changed direction, they still constantly fail in behaviour and constantly need Christ’s forgiveness. Verse 4:

⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

So they mourn their sin – they’re grieved at the offence it is to God and the damage it does to others, not least the way it puts people off Christ. Verse 5:

⁵Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

So they’re humble – and not just before God, but also before other people, not least the people who see them getting it wrong (‘Guys, I apologise. That’s not how I should have driven.’) And then verse 6:

⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [that is, to live the right way in God’s sight],
for they will be filled.

So they’re not complacent. They don’t just say, ‘Well, I’m never going to be perfect this side of heaven, and God will forgive me, anyway, whenever I need it, so I’m not going to try to live more in line with his will.’ No, they hunger and thirst for that. They get up, freshly forgiven, and say, ‘I want to do better for Christ. I’m going to aim for nothing less than his will.’ (Eg, ‘I’m going to drive boys to and from the activities today as if Jesus himself was in the car (which of course, by his Spirit, he is).’ But by the end of another day, you’re aware again of how you’ve fallen short, and back you go to v3, and poverty of spirit.

That’s the genuine Christian. John Newton wrote that hymn Amazing Grace. But before he received Christ, he was the captain of a slave-ship. He was violent, alcoholic and would help himself sexually to the female slaves. And read his biography and you find that his conversion didn’t lead to instant and perfect self-control in any of those areas. But he began to resist sin and to aim for nothing less than Christ’s will, and gradually he changed beyond recognition. And what he wrote later in his journal sums up the genuine Christian. He wrote, ‘I am not what I should be, I am not what I want to be, and I am not what I one day shall be in heaven. But by the grace of God, I am not what I once was.’ I wonder if you can say that? Are you genuine?

So to believers can I say: fear hypocrisy; but don’t fear failure – by which I mean don’t fear that being imperfect leaves you unable to be a witness for Christ. We won’t be perfect this side of heaven. But if we have imperfection plus integrity, God can and will use us. And thinking back over the interviews I’ve heard here about how people have become Christians, I’m struck by the number who’ve said that what first attracted them to Christ was the difference they saw in Christians. Not the perfection. The difference.

My last point – or rather, Jesus’ last point is:

Third, EXAMINE YOURSELF

Would you turn back over to Matthew 7, and verse 24. And here’s Jesus’ final application of the whole sermon on the mount, Matthew 7.24-29:

²⁴"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock [and I take it the storm is a picture of that judgement day when our genuineness or otherwise will be exposed]. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law [ie, not as any merely human teacher].

So the final application is simply: examine yourself. If you profess to be a Christian, examine yourself regularly to make sure you’re not only hearing the word of Christ, but doing it. Read through this sermon on the mount and its description of the genuine Christian and ask yourself, ‘Is this me?’ That’s the way for us to avoid hypocrisy.

But let me say a last word to those who wouldn’t call themselves Christians. Enough about our hypocrisy. What about yours? You see, you can play the relativist’s game of saying that the standards of Christ are ‘true for us but not true for you’. But the moment you cry ‘Hypocrite’ when we fall short of those standards (which we do), it shows you’re not a relativist. It shows you believe in at least one absolute – namely, integrity. And actually the Bible says that, deep down, you know that all the other absolutes God has created into your conscience are true – the other standards of Christ like goodness and justice and mercy. So examine yourself: how do you measure up to those standards?

Faced with that question, I think you only have two options – unless you retreat into relativism. Either you can pretend you do live up to those standards, in which case you yourself are inviting the cry, ‘Hypocrite’. Or you can admit that you don’t and that you can’t – and that like me, you’re a person who needs Jesus to forgive you and change you.

PRAYER

Risen Lord Jesus,
We are reminded by these words of yours that our only hope in the face of your perfect judgement is not to try a bit harder, but to come to you and admit our poverty of spirit.
We admit that we have constantly fallen short of your Father’s will, and that we rely utterly on your forgiveness of our sins, bought with your own blood.
And Lord, in our heart of hearts, beneath all our inconsistency, we do hunger and thirst for righteousness. We don’t want merely to be forgiven but to change. So work in us, we pray, for the rest of our lives, showing us our sin, keeping us from self-deceit, and fuelling in our hearts a love for you and all your ways, that we may meet you on that final day not perfect, but safe in your love.
We ask it for your glory and our good,
Amen

FOR MORE...
On the big questions: If You Could Ask God One Question, Paul Williams – recommended ‘book of the series’ on questions people ask. Special offer price: £2.50, back of church.
The Reason For God, Tim Keller, [a longer book on questions people ask – including chapter on this issue of hypocrisy – which is a bit more ‘high brow’, ie interacts more with the arts, literature, popular philosophy, etc. Available through www.thegoodbook.co.uk ]
To help against hypocrisy: The Good Living Guide, Matthew 5.1-12, Matthias Media [‘Interactive Bible studies’ we’re using in Home Groups: available at back of church]
The Sermon On The Mount: an evangelical exposition of Matthew 5-7, Don Carson, Baker [Outstanding, short, highly applied book on ‘the sermon on the mount’.]

Isn't the Church Full of Hypocrites?	01/11/2009 at 6.30pm
Matthew 7	Jesmond Parish Church

A sermon preached by Ian Garrett
We’ve all met hypocrisy. I guess we meet it first in our parents – like the story of the boy who came home from a fishing trip with his Dad and told his Mum that he’d caught a fish ‘this big’. To which Dad said, ‘Look, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times: don’t exaggerate!’ And then we meet it at school – like the English teacher who tells you to avoid clichés like the plague. But then we meet it in the church. One friend grew up being taken to church, but turned her back on it at university. I asked her recently what she thought about Christianity and she said, ‘I find it hard to take seriously when the last vicar I knew back home ran off not just with the money but with another man’s wife.’ And I could multiply examples – from the church’s involvement in the crusades to paedophile ‘priest’ scandals. And you could add your own stories of how the behaviour of Christians – maybe even in this church – has disillusioned you. As Gandhi once famously said, ‘If you want me to believe in your Redeemer, you’re going to have to look a lot more redeemed.’ We’re in a series called ‘The Big Questions’ and tonight’s is this: ‘Isn’t the church full of hypocrites?’ And often, behind that question, is the attitude that says, ‘And doesn’t that destroy the credibility of Christianity and give me permission to walk away from it, or not even give it a look?’ And the first thing I want to do is to admit, on behalf of the Christians here, that our behaviour does constantly fall short of what we say we believe. So if you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing but lives another, Christians are all hypocrites. And if we here have put you off in that way, I apologise for us. But for the rest of our time, I want Jesus to do the talking. So would you turn in the Bibles to Matthew’s Gospel and chapter 7. And we’re going to look at the last bit of a chunk of Jesus’ teaching which is often called ‘the sermon on the mount’. But before we do, can I say: these are not just the words of a great moral teacher offering great moral advice. Look down to Matthew chapter 7.21-23, where Jesus says: ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day [ie, the day Jesus wraps up history and judges the living and the dead. ‘Many will say to me on that day...’], 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy [ie, preach] in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Now just take in what Jesus is claiming there about himself. He’s saying we should call him, ‘Lord’ – the Bible’s name for God. He’s saying we will all meet him as our Judge. And he’s saying he will determine our eternal destiny beyond this life – whether it’s heaven or hell. And if those claims sound ridiculous and offensive, coming (apparently) from a mere man, then a read to the end of Matthew’s Gospel will show you why we believe he wasn’t (and isn’t) a mere man. Because having been put to death on a cross for those very claims, he rose again from the dead, as the great sign that the claims were true. And these words we’re going to look at are to help each of us be ready for that day we meet him. So my first point is this: Firstly, THE HYPOCRISY OF THE FALSE CHRISTIAN Look at Matthew chapter 7, v15. Jesus says: "Watch out for false prophets [ie, people who claim to speak for me, but don’t even really know me]. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. So Jesus is fully aware of the vicars who run off with the money or other men’s wives. And that is hypocrisy. I said just now that if you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing but lives another, Christians are all hypocrites. But that’s not the definition of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is pretence – knowingly living a lie – in this case, professing to have Jesus as Lord while deliberately living in contradiction of his will.And those outside the church who cry, ‘Hypocrite!’ are absolutely right in expecting Christians to be different. Because they still have some inkling that Christianity isn’t just a belief system – but that Jesus spoke about people being ‘born again’, and that a genuine Christian is someone who’s had that experience of coming into relationship with God – and that it changes them. And that is what the Bible says. It says that by nature we don’t want God ruling our lives – we push him out of mind and take the throne ourselves. And that’s why he sent his Son into the world in the person of Jesus to die for our forgiveness and then rise again. Because unless we are forgiven back into relationship with God, and changed to live for him, we’re on a collision course with him as we head towards that day Jesus spoke about. And a genuine Christian is someone who’s realised that Jesus should be on the throne of their lives, who’s found forgiveness from him for all they’ve done wrong, and who’s received him into their lives by his Spirit, who then enables them to live for him. And that’s what any genuine Christian here will tell you they want to do, and (albeit imperfectly) try to do. That’s the ‘fruit’ Jesus talks about next. Look on to vv16-20: ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognise them [ie, distinguish false Christians from genuine ones]. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them. So before I received Christ, I was (metaphorically speaking) a ‘bad’ tree – I had a nature that didn’t want him ruling my life. And although my behaviour wasn’t as evil as it could have been (so society didn’t lock me up), in God’s eyes, there was plenty of bad fruit. And it takes Jesus to make a bad tree good – it takes coming into relationship with him, above all it takes discovering the wonder that he died for you, to forgive and accept you just as you are. That’s what changes people to want to live for him in response. But it’s not a change to sinless perfection. It’s a complete change of direction but not, this side of heaven, a complete change of behaviour. Let me try to illustrate that. Imagine you wanted me to drive up to Edinburgh. So I get in the car, head out to the A1 but then I turn south towards London and speed all the way there at 100mph. Now what’s wrong with that, from your point of view? Presumably my driving at 100. But fundamentally, my attitude to you in going off in completely my own direction. Now that’s a picture of what I looked like to God before I received Christ. My behaviour was wrong at numerous points. But more fundamentally, my direction was, too. So back to the illustration. I return from London and I’ve had a complete change of heart. So this time, I do what you want me to: I head out to the A1, turn north towards Scotland and try to drive well all the way – although I still creep over the speed limit from time to time and once cause another car to swerve because I didn’t check my mirror. Now how does that look to you? This time, the direction is right. And although the driving isn’t perfect, it’s different. And that’s a picture of what someone looks like to God after they’ve received Christ. The fundamental direction is now right. And even though the behaviour isn’t anywhere near perfect, it’s different from what it was. OK, now we can read on without misunderstanding it. Look at vv21-23: ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Now people often misunderstand that. They think Jesus is saying, ‘You have to earn God’s acceptance by doing his will –and if you don’t do enough, you don’t get in.’ But that’s not what he’s saying at all. Remember: this is the person who died to pay for our forgiveness because we’re not good enough and can’t be. He’s earned our acceptance. So he’s not saying that doing his Father’s will is how we earn his acceptance. He’s saying that doing his Father’s will (albeit imperfectly) is how we evidence the fact that we’ve been accepted – it’s the ‘fruit’ of having been forgiven back into relationship with him. But where there’s no fruit, no change, no difference, professing Christians will hear those awful words, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer.’ So if you’re scandalised by the hypocrisies of false Christians, and how they seem to get away with it, rest assured that the risen Lord Jesus isn’t fooled, and that they have an appointment with him on that day. As do you and I. So that’s the hypocrisy of the false Christian. To those of us professing to be Christians, they’re disturbing words. But it’s kind of the Lord to have spoken them. Because he’s out to protect us from self-deception – out to make us examine ourselves. Not to ask, ‘Am I obeying him perfectly?’ – to which the answer is always, ‘No’. But to ask, ‘Has my direction changed? And is my behaviour different?’ But then let me say something to those who wouldn’t call themselves Christians, and for whom Christian hypocrisy is a sticking-point and leaves you feeling that it destroys the credibility of Christianity. Can I ask, ‘Whose credibility does it destroy?’ Eg, the ‘priest’ in the paedophile scandal – whose credibility does that destroy? Obviously his. And obviously anyone who tries to hush it up. But it doesn’t destroy the credibility of other Christians who are doing their best to live for Christ. What about them? Eg, the church was complicit and complacent about the slave trade in this country – but it was a Christian, William Wilberforce, who got it abolished. You see, if you choose to judge Christianity by its worst examples, doesn’t that actually say something about your real level of open-mindedness? Doesn’t that actually suggest you’re looking for reasons to find against Christianity? And doesn’t that actually bear out the truth of what Jesus says here, that by nature we’re all (metaphorically speaking) bad trees – that by nature you don’t want to give Jesus his rightful place in your life, and that you may be using Christian hypocrisy to duck the real issue of making your own mind up about him? Because above all: the credibility of Christ is not destroyed by Christian hypocrisy. And if you want to be a person of integrity, then regardless of the behaviour of Christians, you still have to make up your mind about him and his claim to be Lord and God, and the claim of eye-witnesses like Matthew that he really did rise from the dead. Please don’t mishear me: I’m not trying to minimise Christian hypocrisy, or just how much it may have put you off – I’m aware that for many it makes it much harder to look into the claims of Christ. But if that becomes your excuse for not looking, that actually lacks integrity. So on to my second point, which is: Second, THE IMPERFECTION OF THE GENUINE CHRISTIAN I nearly called this ‘the hypocrisy of the genuine Christian’ – because like I said, if you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing but lives another, Christians are all hypocrites. But that’s not the definition of hypocrisy. It’s pretence – knowingly living a lie. And that’s not what genuine Christians are doing. If you watch one, you’ll definitely be disappointed by their failure to live up to what they profess. But that’s very different from being scandalised by someone pretending to be something they’re not – like the vicar running off with the money and the wife. Eg, I remember leading on a Scripture Union holiday, and the rule was constantly laid down to us young leaders that we should never race one another in our cars. But having taken two car-loads of boys on an activity, as my fellow-leader and I were getting into our cars, he said, ‘I bet I’ll beat you back.’ Now we didn’t break the speed limit (as the Pharisee would say). But we did race. And we pulled up almost neck and neck in the car-park, spraying gravel. And the overall leader of the holiday was standing there, watching with a look that would have sunk a thousand ships. And feeling thoroughly ashamed, I turned to the boys in my car and said, ‘Guys, I apologise. That’s not how I should have driven.’ And I still remember what one of them – not a Christian – said. He said, ‘That’s OK. We didn’t expect you to be perfect.’ You see, if I’d pretended that my driving had been fine, or that the rules didn’t say no racing, that would have damaged my witness. That’s hypocrisy and it scandalises people. But what I’d actually shown was not hypocrisy, but imperfection plus integrity. And that doesn’t undermine our witness. In fact, it witnesses precisely to the truth of the gospel that we continue to be people who need Christ to forgive us and change us – which is what you need, if you’ve not yet received him. Just turn back to Matthew 5 and the beginning of the sermon on the mount. We’ve been studying this in Home Groups: it’s where the Lord Jesus describes the genuine Christian, so that we can examine ourselves and be kept from self-deception. That’s the purpose of the whole sermon on the mount. So look at Matthew 5.1-2: ¹Now when [Jesus] saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ²and he began to teach them saying: ³"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So genuine Christians are poor in spirit – they admit they’re still sinners, that although they’ve changed direction, they still constantly fail in behaviour and constantly need Christ’s forgiveness. Verse 4: ⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. So they mourn their sin – they’re grieved at the offence it is to God and the damage it does to others, not least the way it puts people off Christ. Verse 5: ⁵Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. So they’re humble – and not just before God, but also before other people, not least the people who see them getting it wrong (‘Guys, I apologise. That’s not how I should have driven.’) And then verse 6: ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [that is, to live the right way in God’s sight], for they will be filled. So they’re not complacent. They don’t just say, ‘Well, I’m never going to be perfect this side of heaven, and God will forgive me, anyway, whenever I need it, so I’m not going to try to live more in line with his will.’ No, they hunger and thirst for that. They get up, freshly forgiven, and say, ‘I want to do better for Christ. I’m going to aim for nothing less than his will.’ (Eg, ‘I’m going to drive boys to and from the activities today as if Jesus himself was in the car (which of course, by his Spirit, he is).’ But by the end of another day, you’re aware again of how you’ve fallen short, and back you go to v3, and poverty of spirit. That’s the genuine Christian. John Newton wrote that hymn Amazing Grace. But before he received Christ, he was the captain of a slave-ship. He was violent, alcoholic and would help himself sexually to the female slaves. And read his biography and you find that his conversion didn’t lead to instant and perfect self-control in any of those areas. But he began to resist sin and to aim for nothing less than Christ’s will, and gradually he changed beyond recognition. And what he wrote later in his journal sums up the genuine Christian. He wrote, ‘I am not what I should be, I am not what I want to be, and I am not what I one day shall be in heaven. But by the grace of God, I am not what I once was.’ I wonder if you can say that? Are you genuine? So to believers can I say: fear hypocrisy; but don’t fear failure – by which I mean don’t fear that being imperfect leaves you unable to be a witness for Christ. We won’t be perfect this side of heaven. But if we have imperfection plus integrity, God can and will use us. And thinking back over the interviews I’ve heard here about how people have become Christians, I’m struck by the number who’ve said that what first attracted them to Christ was the difference they saw in Christians. Not the perfection. The difference. My last point – or rather, Jesus’ last point is: Third, EXAMINE YOURSELF Would you turn back over to Matthew 7, and verse 24. And here’s Jesus’ final application of the whole sermon on the mount, Matthew 7.24-29: ²⁴"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock [and I take it the storm is a picture of that judgement day when our genuineness or otherwise will be exposed]. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." ²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law [ie, not as any merely human teacher]. So the final application is simply: examine yourself. If you profess to be a Christian, examine yourself regularly to make sure you’re not only hearing the word of Christ, but doing it. Read through this sermon on the mount and its description of the genuine Christian and ask yourself, ‘Is this me?’ That’s the way for us to avoid hypocrisy. But let me say a last word to those who wouldn’t call themselves Christians. Enough about our hypocrisy. What about yours? You see, you can play the relativist’s game of saying that the standards of Christ are ‘true for us but not true for you’. But the moment you cry ‘Hypocrite’ when we fall short of those standards (which we do), it shows you’re not a relativist. It shows you believe in at least one absolute – namely, integrity. And actually the Bible says that, deep down, you know that all the other absolutes God has created into your conscience are true – the other standards of Christ like goodness and justice and mercy. So examine yourself: how do you measure up to those standards? Faced with that question, I think you only have two options – unless you retreat into relativism. Either you can pretend you do live up to those standards, in which case you yourself are inviting the cry, ‘Hypocrite’. Or you can admit that you don’t and that you can’t – and that like me, you’re a person who needs Jesus to forgive you and change you. PRAYER Risen Lord Jesus, We are reminded by these words of yours that our only hope in the face of your perfect judgement is not to try a bit harder, but to come to you and admit our poverty of spirit. We admit that we have constantly fallen short of your Father’s will, and that we rely utterly on your forgiveness of our sins, bought with your own blood. And Lord, in our heart of hearts, beneath all our inconsistency, we do hunger and thirst for righteousness. We don’t want merely to be forgiven but to change. So work in us, we pray, for the rest of our lives, showing us our sin, keeping us from self-deceit, and fuelling in our hearts a love for you and all your ways, that we may meet you on that final day not perfect, but safe in your love. We ask it for your glory and our good, Amen FOR MORE... On the big questions: If You Could Ask God One Question, Paul Williams – recommended ‘book of the series’ on questions people ask. Special offer price: £2.50, back of church. The Reason For God, Tim Keller, [a longer book on questions people ask – including chapter on this issue of hypocrisy – which is a bit more ‘high brow’, ie interacts more with the arts, literature, popular philosophy, etc. Available through www.thegoodbook.co.uk ] To help against hypocrisy: The Good Living Guide, Matthew 5.1-12, Matthias Media [‘Interactive Bible studies’ we’re using in Home Groups: available at back of church] The Sermon On The Mount: an evangelical exposition of Matthew 5-7, Don Carson, Baker [Outstanding, short, highly applied book on ‘the sermon on the mount’.]
For more sermon transcripts visit http://www.church.org.uk

Isn't the Church Full of Hypocrites?

A sermon preached by Ian Garrett