{"id":2923,"date":"2015-05-05T06:30:35","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T11:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/?p=2923"},"modified":"2015-05-05T06:30:35","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T11:30:35","slug":"the-biggest-reason-there-are-so-many-hypocrites-in-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/the-biggest-reason-there-are-so-many-hypocrites-in-the-church\/","title":{"rendered":"The BIGGEST Reason There Are So Many Hypocrites in the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Too many people have been scarred by hypocrisy in the church.\u00a0Why are there so many hypocrites in the church? There are a myriad of reasons, but here\u2019s the biggest reason from my perspective:\u00a0The reason there are so many hypocrites in the church is because there are so many unsaved people in the church.\u00a0<\/b>Look at what Jesus says:<\/p>\n

21\u00a0\u201cNot everyone who says to me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22\u00a0Many will say to me on that day, \u2018Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?\u2019 23\u00a0Then I will tell them plainly, \u2018I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!\u2019 <\/em>Matthew 7:21-23<\/p>\n

\"5.5.15\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These were the leaders in the synagogues, the religious rulers, the ones in charge of the religious system of Israel, the ones who claimed to be the most religious. They even did great things in the name of God, like prophesy and perform miracles. And yet Jesus will say, \u201cI never knew you,\u201d and send them to\u00a0Hell.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just stop and understand the gravity of what Jesus is saying here. He\u2019s not referring to the lost pagan world out there. He\u2019s referring to people who claim that Jesus is their Lord. People that go around and tell everyone they\u2019re a Christian. People\u00a0who fill up our churches every week.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t say that they\u2019re simply misguided or immature believers. He says they\u2019re not believers at all.\u00a0If you\u2019ve grown up in the church, if like me you consider yourself a church person, these verses should absolutely rock you to your core. They should rattle you in your soul. The reason there are so many hypocrites in the church is because there are so many unsaved people in the church.<\/p>\n

What Jesus taught, what the New Testament authors taught, what happens still in churches today is that there are a bunch of people walking around today claiming that they\u2019re Christians but acting like non-Christians. In reality, the reason so many church people can act like unsaved people is because they are unsaved people.\u00a0What makes it so destructive and what drives so many people away is that they\u2019re convinced that they\u2019re saved and they tell everyone around them that they\u2019re saved when they\u2019re really not.<\/p>\n

John, one of Jesus\u2019 disciples, was there the day Jesus taught this and probably felt as uncomfortable as everyone else. And yet it was the truth. Years later when John would write to the early Christians, he would flesh out this idea. Here\u2019s what he writes in 1 John:<\/p>\n

6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.<\/em> 1 John 1:6<\/p>\n

John says we can claim one thing but still live out something else. He\u2019s describing hypocrites who claim to walk in the light but are still walking in darkness.<\/p>\n

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.<\/em> 1 John 1:8<\/p>\n

If we claim that we\u2019ve arrived, that we\u2019re without sin, that we\u2019re somehow superior to others, we deceive ourselves.\u00a0It\u2019s very possible for church people to deceive themselves into thinking their saved when they\u2019re really not.<\/p>\n

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.<\/em> 1 John 2:9<\/p>\n

This verse gets real specific. If you claim to be in the light, if you claim you\u2019re saved, but hate those around you, you\u2019re not in the light.\u00a0What does that imply for all the mean, spiteful, hateful people in the church today? Nothing good, I\u2019ll tell you that.<\/p>\n

6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.<\/em> 1 John 2:6<\/p>\n

That\u2019s John\u2019s main argument. If you claim you\u2019re a Christian, act like Jesus. If you act more like the Pharisees Jesus condemned than Jesus himself, you can tell yourself you\u2019re saved all you want. But on the day of judgment Jesus very well may say, \u201cAway from me, you evildoer, for I never knew you.\u201d\u00a0The reason there are so many hypocrites in the church is because there are so many unsaved people in the church (who think they\u2019re saved).<\/p>\n

QUESTION: What do you think? Is there a bigger reason out there to explain hypocrisy today?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Too many people have been scarred by hypocrisy in the church.\u00a0Why are there so many hypocrites in the church? There are a myriad of reasons, but here\u2019s the biggest reason from my perspective:\u00a0The reason there are so many hypocrites in the church is because there are so many unsaved people in the church.\u00a0Look at what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2490,"featured_media":2924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[262,688,689,760,843,977,1283,1369],"class_list":["post-2923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mtvpastor","tag-church","tag-hypocrisy","tag-hypocrite","tag-jesus","tag-light","tag-mtvpastor-2","tag-sermon","tag-step"],"yoast_head":"\nThe BIGGEST Reason There Are So Many Hypocrites in the Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Too many people have been scarred by hypocrisy in the church.\u00a0Why are there so many hypocrites in the church? 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