Dodging Hypocrites

I saw a cartoon by political cartoonist Glenn McCoy that showed two toilets, one with a Koran in it, the other with a Bible. Over the Koran was a sign saying "hate crime." Over the Bible the sign read, "Art." Someone had taken the cartoon and made it into a poster with the caption under it: "Hypocrisy: It's Everywhere." Obviously the point is the hypocrisy in our culture and in the media that accepts brutal criticism, defamation, and mis-characterization of Christianity and labels any similar action toward other religions as criminal. But that's not the point I want to make here.

What struck me is that there really is hypocrisy everywhere. Pick a profession. There's hypocrisy in the media, in medicine, in plumbing, in carpentry, roofing, trucking.... So how do you avoid the hypocrites? Do we stop watching any TV, reading any news anywhere online or in print? Do we quit going to the doctor or dentist? Do we let our pipes leak & our septic tanks overflow because of some dishonest plumber? Do we let our roof rot, fall apart, and leak because of some dishonest roofer? No, because we know there are some out there in any of those professions who are honest and have some integrity. We even may tolerate mistakes from them if we know they didn't intend to fail us and they'll try to make it right.

Yet there are many people who reject Christ, religion as a whole because of the "hypocrites in the church." Sorry, but that doesn't make any more sense than letting your roof cave in because some roofers are hypocrites and take your money and don't deliver a good job. It's as ridiculous as dying of cancer because some doctors are hypocrites who only want to make a buck and don't really care about their patients, or worse, some break the law and hand out illegal prescriptions. Sorry, but I'm going to find an honest doctor who knows what he's doing. I'm going to find an honest roofer who will do the job right for a price that's fair to both of us. And I'm going to find Christian people who really know and love the Lord and hang out with them.

If you read that far, hopefully you get the point. What's below just develops the idea a little further.

Churches are populated by people. Most are Christians. Some are not, but call themselves by that name. Now, people make mistakes. Even sincere Christians are still human, and sometimes fail. Most of us can handle that. I think "hypocrites" in the church fall into two main categories, that are really two versions of one main problem.

But there are some who are just trying Christianity. They don't know the Lord, have no relationship with Him, but are "Christian" because that's the religion they belong to. If Christianity is just a religion, and just another set of rules, it's powerless. It's as powerless as any other religion - based on rules and laws and standards of behavior. This approach to Christianity totally misses the point of the Old Testament: "You can't follow all these rules and be holy in your own strength - you're going to fail"; and the New Testament: "You need a Savior to pay the price of your sins, give you the power by which to live, and open up a relationship between you and God." People who approach Christianity as a religion and a set of rules, are going to fail. It's disappointing when they do, and the sad part is they have no solution to the problem other than to just keep struggling or to give up altogether and decide it doesn't work.

Even worse is when they decide what's needed is a more strict adherence to all the "rules." It becomes all about obedience to the law and what they perceive as "holiness." The worst of these become hyper-critical of others, abusive, and misuse people, even justifying it by Bible verses they totally misunderstand and take out of context. They hurt and wound others without remorse, thinking they are being holy and defending the faith.

Paul addressed this in Galatians 5:4 - "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." The word translated "severed from" is sometimes translated "destroyed" or "done away with" or "made powerless." The idea of it is being made of no effect. It's like those times on your computer where you type something, forget to save it, shut down the computer and totally lose it. You worked. You put forth effort. But there is nothing to show for it. No results. No effect. That's Christianity under law instead of grace.