That's the Point
4 min read
We are hypocrites. That’s the point. We need a Savior. That’s the point. We need salvation. That’s the point. We need repentance. That’s the point.
When people explain to me why they “no longer really believe in God,” or why they “don’t really go to church anymore,” one explanation comes up more than the rest: “Christians/people in churches are so hypocritical.” Unfortunately, I understand their complaint well.
If I heard the aforementioned reason ten years ago, my mind would perhaps drift to “this person” or “that person” in my various Christian circles or my church, as a reference to their point, and silently shake my head. But over time as I have matured in my relationship with Christ, whenever I hear this reason, I feel shame. I know that I am the hypocrite.
Although I am all too well aware of my imperfections, it still breaks my heart to know that there are countless times when I have misrepresented Christ—that as I write this, there are memories in the minds of others of me acting like I didn’t even know Him.
Two-facedness.
Jealousy.
Hatred.
Gossip.
My words.
My deeds.
Sometimes such activity was unintentional.
More times than I would like to admit it was intentional, presumptuous even.
Knowing that people knew that I was a Christian because that is what my mouth told them, but having my own actions call me a liar makes me sick to my stomach.
I am a hypocrite..... I think that’s the point. Why would I need Christ if I wasn’t?
We are human beings. Against popular belief, we are not inherently good. Apart from my history of awful actions, the even more convincing proof of this is in my mind. The things I think. The things I imagine. Thank God no one can hear them.
We often act out of emotion or based on feelings. We’re fickle. We don’t know exactly what it is that we want, but we do know that it is closer to everything than it is to nothing.
We cheat.
We steal.
We are greedy.
Insatiable.
We put ourselves first.
We work hard, why not?
Oftentimes, those who find Christ and Christianity attractive do so because they are searching for happiness. Then, usually, they will follow the format and join a church. Upon crossing the threshold, they are very dissatisfied with what meets them. They discover... humans.
They thought these people were different. They thought Christ had changed them. They don’t find the happiness they were looking for. They exit stage left.
But what if they knew my story? What if they knew that what ultimately brought me to my knees at the foot of the cross wasn’t the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of redemption?
I, too, had noticed that I was very human.
I, too, had noticed that I wasn’t different.
I, too, had noticed that being “raised Christian” or going to church every week didn’t mean that Christ had changed me.
It was once Christ revealed to me that happiness was a byproduct of a relationship with Him and not the goal... that’s when I realized the deficit in my own heart.
We often seek God under the false pretense that we will be instantly happy... totally overlooking our own sins.
We are hypocrites. That’s the point.
We need a Savior. That’s the point.
We need salvation. That’s the point.
We need repentance. That’s the point.
Until we come to that realization, the love of God won’t penetrate beyond the surface, and the people who watch us—the people who are searching for and needing to see a change—they will be unfazed, turned off, and in some cases hurt by our hypocrisy.
So, yes... to those of you who made the discovery that the “church is full of hypocrites”.... you were right. It’s all of us. Inside the church and outside the church.
To those of you in the church who have a relationship with Christ, let’s take our hypocrisy and conjoin it with both repentance and transparency. Let’s wave our shortcomings in the air like flags and proclaim how hypocritical we sometimes even still are, how lost we sometimes even still feel, how capricious we sometimes even still can be, the feelings of frustration and despair that we sometimes even still tote.
Our jobs aren’t to be perfect, but to allow each of our lives to be an open book for others to read—conveying humility and contrition along the way.
Be vulnerable for those who feel vulnerable.
Be inviting to those who feel rejected.
Tell them about your current, active pursuit of perfection and wholeness in Jesus Christ—the only non-hypocrite who ever lived, who died and rose because of His love for us.
And most importantly... love others! Not just the ones you deem worthy of your love, but all the other ones, too.
That’s the point.
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“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2