The word "hypocrite" comes from a Greek theatrical term, which literally means, "to answer from under a mask." A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something they are not; or more simply, a hypocrite is an actor, a fake, a phony.
If we are a hypocrite we are not genuine. We are the opposite of what we should be. We are impostors, fakes, frauds, counterfeits, pretenders, and con artists.
Spare me the self-righteous b******t about Christianity and Christians being more moral than those of us that choose other religions (or in my case, no religion at all). The words "love thy neighbour" may be of Christian origin, but the sentiment (I hope) is shared by people all over the world. You shouldn't need to read a book to find out that people should be nice to each other. Being a good person isn't about clinging to the best set of moral guidelines, it's about living up to those guidelines that you pretend to believe in.
Christians don't pretend that they're anything but failures. By definition a Christian is someone who has admitted that they are a failure and they can't live up to God's standards. They realize that they're failures and there's no way they could ever live their way into God's good books. But, and this is key, really key to understanding Jesus and Christianity; Christianity isn't about us succeeding and being good enough for God. It's about God forgiving us.
The Church is full of people who either are Christian's but don't act like it. Are not Christian at all but try to act like it, and this causes a problem for the people who really are Christian and try to act like it.
Whenever I encounter someone who condemns Christianity on the grounds of people being hypocrites, I remember the words to one of Steve Taylors old songs: "You're hypocrites, you're such a bore! Well come on in! There's room for one more!"
A recent issue of HIS Magazine included a survey where they had asked college students, "What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word Christian?" The overwhelming response was..."hypocrite!!!!!" So if Jesus is the truth, why are there so many hypocrites who call themselves Christians?
A few years ago I shared the program at a conference with a prominent Christian music group. Minutes before they "ministered," I heard them using some of the most foul language imaginable. They proceeded to go on stage and act as if they were the most holy people since the apostle Paul. I felt sick. I thought, No wonder some people reject Christianity.
I know of a Christian who actually goes to the mall every few weeks, buys some real quality clothes then wears them to church on Sunday and on Monday she takes the back to the mall and tells the shop they don't fit and could she have a refund. This person actually boasts about this. If that's an example of Christianity then count me out.
Christians, they love to talk about how “loving”, “dutiful” and “compassionate” they are, yet I have yet to meet one who does not practice hypocrisy to the highest degree. Their willful ignorance of the Bible combined with their two faced idealism to preach it, has made us sick, hasn’t it? For nearly two thousand years Biblicists have been lecturing people on the importance of adhering to the Bible’s teachings on ethics, manners, and morality. They quote Jesus and Paul profusely, with a liberal sprinkling of Old Testament moralism. The problem with their approach lies not only in an oft- noted failure to practice what they preach, but an equally pronounced tendency to ignore what the Bible itself, preaches. Christians practice what can only be described as “selective morality”. What they like, they cling to and shove down other’s throats; what they don’t like, they ignore vehemently.
That which is palatable and acceptable is supposedly applicable to all; while that which is obnoxious, inconvenient, or self-denying is only applicable to those addressed 2,000 years ago.
Their hypocrisy is so rampant that even the validity of calling oneself “Christian” is in question. I see so many people enjoy quoting the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and some of Paul’s sermons, but don’t even PRETEND to heed other, equally valid, maxims.
A number of Roman Catholic priests in North America have been charged with molesting underage boys. To make the situation worse, these molesters were often aided by superiors who covered for them. Rather than kicking sinful, sick molesters out of the priesthood and into prison, the hierarchy transferred them to other parishes, providing them a new crop of children to abuse. All too often, the church leaders cared more about public image than about truth. They cared more about the welfare of wicked priests than of unwitting children. PERFECT EXAMPLE of hypocrites in the worst possible way.
Being a hypocrite comes with judging. If you judge someone because they smoke, then you go out and smoke, then you are a hypocrite. And yes, many times Christians are hypocrites, which of course is a sin. But one can't put any statement that someone has against sin as hypocritical. It would not be hypocritical for one to say "You shouldn't smoke, look what it's done to me." There is no judging there, no "I am better than you because I don't sin."
I see so many Christians these days condemning people and judging people. Jesus loved all people, without judging them, and gave them a chance. But we today take one look at people and decide that we don't want to associate with them. When we try to share the Word, but then turn our backs on those that we deem "unclean", we are just being hypocritical. No wonder the #1 cause of atheism today is Christians. We need to look upon other people with love, showing them indirectly that God loves them. So let's stop being so darn hypocritical, people!
People who call themselves Christians do not behave, talk or treat other people the way the Bible they should. Churches are full on Easter and Christmas and half empty the rest of the year. Those are hypocrites! Men and women are in church on Sunday, and cheating on their spouse on Monday. There are hungry people, and we do not feed them. Babies are dying and we do not save them. Couples are living together, but are not married. We steal office supplies from work. We don't forgive others. All hypocrites, the lot of them, every single one.
There is nothing worse than experiencing a bad time at church. And it appears that many non-Christians have had some really bad experiences with the church. As a result, when many nonbelievers glance in the direction of Christ, there are many occasions when the view is obstructed by the "problem of the hypocrite." For such no-non-believers, the problem of hypocrisy in the church appears to be an insurmountable one. Plainly, it seems, hypocrisy reveals Christianity for what it really is a broad collection of sanctimonious liars tied together in fellowship with a common set of superficial platitudes which platitudes are promptly forgotten when the car door slams shut in the church parking lot.
There are hypocrites in the church. However, remember that the church is like a hospital for the spiritually wounded (and we all have the disease of sin). To be honest, one should expect to see less-than-perfect people in the church … the central issue is that they realize their sickness, come to Jesus to forgive them, and begin the work of striving daily with the Spirit’s help to lead to a more holy, non-hypocritical lifestyle.
Hypocrites are real. In Christianity and outside of it, large numbers of people talk, act, or appear as if they are something they are not. Sometimes their motive is to intentionally deceive others. Sometimes it is just ignorance or foolishness. So it is with those claiming to be Christians. Some live, think, and act in ways very contrary to the explicit teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles because they, or the group (church or other organization) they are a part of, are prideful, selfish, vain, rebellious, or simply more interested in following their own agenda and pursuing their own goals than they are interested in the agenda and goals of the Lord whom they profess to follow. Others fail to live in the light of the gospel because they have never truly studied, understood, or been shown how to apply the life-giving, life-saving message that Christ brought.
When people say "Christians Are All Hypocrites, Why Would I want To Be One" they are usually thinking of an unscrupulous TV evangelist whose greed and hypocrisy have been publicly exposed, or perhaps their own bitter personal experience with a person who claimed to be a follower of Christ but acted in a very un-Christ-like way.
It is certainly a great shame when people claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus but live lives of self-centeredness' and prejudice. Often these people make the matter worse by assuming an air of false piety and loudly condemning those who do not match up to their lofty standards of conduct -- standards they themselves do not even follow.
If you confuse hypocrisy with weakness, you might say yes. If you subscribe to the idea that you shouldn’t preach anything you can’t or haven’t always practiced, then you also might say yes. But, of course, if that were our criterion then we wouldn’t be able to uphold even most of the values that the vast majority agrees upon. For instance, most would teach their children not to lie; yet, it’s safe to say that all who offer such counsel have themselves lied in their lives. Should we refuse to set the bar high for our children and cease to try to cultivate virtue in them because we ourselves have been found wanting at certain times? Of course not – that would be an abdication of our responsibility to lead properly. It would make no more sense than refusing to teach someone the proper technique in golf simply because you yourself never had the discipline to master it. That would not be love, but rather the very antithesis of it. This is because true love means having a sincere desire for others to not make the same mistakes you did – the desire for them to be better than you are.
It says in Matthew 23, Jesus expressed his deep contempt for true religious hypocrites. Here are some of the charges he leveled against them:
They give out laws to others, but they do not live by them (vs. 3-4)
They love impressive, public religious displays, and being referred to with religious titles (vs. 5-12)
They win converts to their own religion, but not to God (vs. 13-15)
They re-interpret their own laws in order to suit their own purpose (vs. 16-22)
They emphasize minuscule religious details, yet ignore the most important truths (vs. 23-24)
They keep the outward appearance clean, while leaving the inside corrupt (vs.25-28)
They deny their own sinfulness (vs. 29-36)
This is both hypocrisy AND arrogance; none of these should characterize a true, born-again Christian. If they do, you have good reason to doubt the validity of their faith.Christians are people, just like everyone else. But the difference is that the true Christian has been apprised of his failures and is being conformed and molded, by a continuing process, into a likeness of Jesus Christ. The Christian is not a perfect person, and never will be in this life, but wishes to attain to a position whereby the nature and work of Jesus Christ can be seen through them. However, because of the weakness of human nature, the attainment of the goals is not always accomplished and the nature of hypocrisy reveals itself in conduct not in line with the profession of belief. This is not an excuse for the behaviour, but an explanation as to the weakness of human nature in relation to the standard that is to be attained.
I am very frustrated and angry at the church regarding sexual activity. I started out wanting to be a virgin when I got married but it didn't turn out that way. Though I'm a Christian, my first sexual experience was with a girl I met at church. Are all Christians hypocrites? I see so much sexual impurity at "church". Christian women seem just like worldly women.
What happens when people see those who attend church sinning? They think to themselves, "That person is supposed to be a Christian. Christians are not supposed to sin, since that person is sinning, he's a hypocrite." They assume that a Christian is one who claims that he does not sin. In reality it's just the opposite. For someone to be a Christian, they must first admit to be a sinner. Being a sinner is a prerequisite for being a Christian. One becomes acutely aware of their condition now only at salvation but through their life. The Christian church is exclusively the only group of people that requires a public acknowledgement of sin. They are admitting they have a condition seeking a remedy. Actually the Church has fewer hypocrites than any other association because the definition of the Church is a hospital for sinners, all kinds. If the Church ever claimed to be an association of perfect people then it certainly would be hypocritical. But the Church never has claimed this.
Hypocrisy means to profane, to be godless, to act insincerely, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Matthew 7: 3-5 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye".
Christians are not to judge hypocritically or self-righteously, but use discernment to evaluate a person's character. Scripture repeatedly encourages believers to judge between good and bad, regarding both people and teachings. The Christian is to test everything. Christians do have to discern in order to obey the commands and principles of God. Jesus taught that His followers were to discern the difference of right and wrong, condemning unjust hypocritical judging.
I came across this interesting article.
Do you know some people who have a standard response to any discussion of faith in Christ? It goes something like this: "There are too many hypocrites in the Church!" Of course, such people are right; one hypocrite in the Church is too many! But some of those people are very deluded; they think all hypocrites are in the church!
"A hypocrite is a Christian who does not do what he says he believes." Now that is a definition that is music to the ears of this type of non-Christian! That is the response I got when I asked a non-Christian co-worker what "hypocrite" means! Actually, there are more non-Christian hypocrites (people who do not act in accordance with whatever beliefs they profess) than there are Christian hypocrites. Christ helps me, and all true Christians to be sincere, thus avoiding hypocrisy. Who helps the non-Christian to avoid hypocrisy, which comes naturally to us all?
It is very easy to delude yourself by deciding that if you ignore God, He will not require obedience of you; His laws will not apply to you. Where did anyone get that idea? It is not in the Bible. History, both Biblical and secular, tells us this is not so! Don't be so sure that Bible prophecies are not prophecies at all, but were written after the prophesied events occurred. Studies of ancient manuscripts do not back up this notion. And, by the way, did you fall for that myth that since there are so many different Bible manuscripts, you cannot believe any of them? Of course, there are thousands of different manuscripts; what non-Christians do not tell you is what the differences are! Over ninety percent of the differences between Bible manuscripts do not alter the meaning significantly; they consist of different spellings, different shapes of letters - things like those. The meanings of ninety-eight percent of the verses in the Bible agree in all manuscripts. The Bible verses that teach the plan of salvation and similarly important doctrines teach these same doctrines in all these manuscripts. Don't be in such a hurry to reject Christ that you blindly accept conventional wisdom, which often is more conventional than wise! Let's look at examples of events in which God used people who did not believe in Him. Some had never even heard of Him! God used them anyway!
Moses was a mighty man of God, a leader of the Jewish people. At the time of his birth, the Egyptians were killing Jewish male babies. Many things had to happen, each at the correct time, to spare the life of Baby Moses, and raise him up to confront Pharaoh and lead God's people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. The account of these events may be found in the book of Exodus; many non-Jewish people were used by God without realizing that they were accomplishing God's purposes when they did what they did!
"And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it." Ex. 2:5.
Moses' mother had placed him in that ark, a basket, floating among the flags along the river's bank, so that Moses would be found. Nothing on the baby or in the ark identified Moses as Jewish. God arranged for Moses to be found by Pharaoh's daughter at a time when she was willing to take him and raise him as her son. Moses' mother did not know who would find Moses, nor what Pharaoh's daughter would do. Pharaoh's daughter probably did not know anything about God. She did not know this baby was on a special mission for God. Nor was she a part of a conspiracy to set the Jewish slaves free. But God had His purpose for Pharaoh's daughter; God used her anyway. You think God can't do whatever He wants with you because you're not a Christian? Think again!
The accounts of the life of Christ include records of the fulfillments of many prophesies. Jesus did not have His disciples positioned in the right places to fulfill all these prophecies. God used whomever He needed to bring about His purposes. Isaiah, a Jewish prophet of old had written that Jesus would die with the wicked. He was crucified between two thieves!
"And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left." Mark 15:27.
How did this happen? Certainly Jesus' disciples did not arrange for the fulfillment of this prophecy. They were making themselves pretty scarce at this time. The Jewish leaders had demanded His death, but they had nothing to do with where or between whom He hung when He paid the penalty for our sins! God used the Romans, who had no idea He was controlling them, to fulfill His prophesies. Could they have said to God, "Hey, we don't know you! Who are you to make us do this your way? We'll do this job our own way, if it is all the same to you!" Actually, they did the job in what they thought was their own way, but the account proves that it was done according to God's purposes!
Another example of God's using pagan Romans to accomplish His purposes took place after Jesus had died. Jesus was called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; the Passover Lamb of the Jews was a type of Christ. And in preparing the Passover Lamb, the Jews were told not to break a bone of the Lamb (Numbers 9:12.) None of our Lord's bones should be broken if the prophecy were to be properly fulfilled.
"He kept all his bones: not one of them is broken." Psalms 34:20.
The Jews desired that the crucifixion mess should not remain to mar the Sabbath. They got Pilate's permission to break the legs of those crucified, to hasten their death. But Christ was already dead! So the soldiers did not break His legs. What they thought was just a shortcut to reduce the work required of them was actually necessary to fulfill a prophecy of God! God uses whomever He needs to work out His ways! He reserves the right to use any of us, whether we are Christians or not.
For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken." John 19:36.
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