Thin lines of Hypocrisy.
I hear a lot of people criticize Christians daily, for speaking the truth, forcing it down people’s throats while living sinful lives.
You’ll hear statements like; ‘you go to church, all dressed up in holy clothes lifting holy hands and yet you’re living a secret life! Since we’re all doing it, that’s good enough reason for me to stay doing what I want. Only God can judge me. Church is full of hypocrites! “.
Sigh.
First of all,
Dear observers, that statement holds no water in paradise. “I sin because he sinned”? When his name is not Adam? Excuse denied!!! We do rub off on one another, and Jesus expects us to influence one another but can we please be real with ourselves and accept the truth that YOU WILL BE JUDGED ALONE! This is as much an individual walk as it is a corporate one.
Now before I go on a long rant, let me just say this. Your Pastor is not God! The spiritual leader you look up to is not God. They are only meant to lead us to God and teach us how to live the Christ-like life. A man of God is still A MAN!
So if your leader’s fall or blunder doesn’t make you want to fall on your knees and stand with him, bearing him up in prayer, but rather gives you an opportunity to criticize and slander him, then he has not done a very good job leading you to Jesus. He may have just led you to himself.
A lot of people use the lives of spiritual leaders or ‘staunch Christians’ as yardsticks to make decisions about whether or not to serve God themselves.
This is a terrible idea. A brother or sister in Christ is supposed to be an encouragement, a motivation to draw closer to God, not a yardstick. Let the church say Amen.
Second point.
Now dear YMC thinking the above is an excuse to live comfortably in sin, hear me, I pray thee;
the church may be a hospital for the Saints but at some point, you must move from Red Ward to Stable. You must crave solid food, growth, maturity in Christ.
Yes darling, the fact that someone is watching your life and criticizing God because they see no difference is a BIG FAIL! It should make you want to do better, knowing there are people watching. Best quote I’ve heard all year:
‘you cannot substitute obedience with prayer’.
You have to take the hard steps of allowing yourself to be pruned. It is tough but necessary.
Thirdly,
Back to my people pointing fingers calling us hypocrites. I hope it makes you feel better, pointing out the sins in our lives, to make yours seem okay. We sincerely apologize for not being good ambassadors of Christ. We are sorry that our past records look worse than your present, we apologize for the many times you were right about the way we live our lives and yet proclaim Christ.
Oh, but best believe; we keep walking. We keep rising. We keep falling. We keep learning. We keep staying under the Presence of God. We keep looking for the Secret Place. We have our worries, we have our doubts, we have our layers and chains and strongholds. But we keep shedding off our old skin. We keep hoping for the new glory.
Do not think we are the same. There is a Spirit in us so Holy He makes us uncomfortable in our sins. He never stops. He spins us, drives us to His fire of purging. He leads us to counseling, prayers, anything to get delivered and completely free. We are not the same. Pigs play in the mud, sheep fight to get out.
We’d rather you joined us. Please come join us in the faith. I know we may not look like Jesus fully yet, but a lot of us are under transformation. Just come along.
Yes, some are hypocrites, others are struggling in the faith but there’s really no justification to stay away. Don’t look at our actions and decide against Jesus. He is so real. So real He keeps us going to church, going to seek His face.
There is A God who hears our cries. There is a God who delivers us. There is resistance being built in us as we keep going to sit at His feet.
Line upon line, Precept upon precept, we understand more, we receive more power, we get stronger and stronger with every prayer, every sermon, every rebuke and correction, every fast. The ones you call hypocrites now because we look like you, will shine like Christ soon.
So come join us while you can. Forget the bad examples and run to the cross yourself. There were two other men on the road to Golgotha aside Jesus. All of them had their personal crosses. The world is full of crosses. And on church pews, we come to shed them for Jesus. A paradise waits, not for only those who carry their crosses, but for the ones who dare to believe in Jesus.
Please stop using us as excuses to keep living comfortably in your sin. Sometimes, the wheat and chaff must grow together. They look alike for awhile. Oh but our Shepherd watches over us. And with love He daily prunes us. No one has reached perfection yet, pastors, deacons, reverends; we are all constantly being worked on. As long as we stay in His Presence, He teaches us how to obey more, how to love Him more, how to love one another more. He gives us a heart like His. We are renewed daily.
Please do not think all church goers are hypocrites because you can point out their sins. These are very thin lines and also inconsequential. The focus is Jesus and He’s waiting for specifically, YOU.
~Sheyla~