None of us is perfect; and I suppose to some extent we’re all hypocrites. If we had to be perfect to go to church, churches would be empty. Yet what keeps the Christians from being hypocritical is admitting our sin and then doing something about it. Doing something about it is called repentance – turning away from sin. The prodigal son in Luke 15 realized his wayward path, came home to ask his father’s forgiveness and changed his ways, even saying he’d serve the father as a hired hand. He was repentant, broken, sorry, and wanted to make things right.
Yet there are many sitting in the church pews week after week, who walk out the doors of church and away from God Monday through Saturday. When we recognize (whether we hear it from the pastor, a friend, a relative, or hearing God’s voice through His word) our sin, we need to seek the Lord for how to stop our sinful ways. To sit in church and listen to excellent teaching about how to follow Christ, the importance of being an example to others by doing what He’s asked, and then to put on a show of piety and holiness one day of the week before we go back to our blatant sin, is making a mockery of God. He is not pleased.
I know He forgives each of us, but when we ignore His word, when we ignore the instruction of others in our lives who care about us enough to confront us of our sin, when we continue in that sin, we become haughty hypocrites. It seems we think we can fool or hide from Him. We individually need to seek Him for the right way of living, the power to live an abundant and fruitful life being directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. We should put aside missions, soup kitchens, serving the poor, teaching Sunday School, and even sitting in church if we are doing these things to look holy to those around us, but have “another life” outside the church. Shame on us for thinking He won’t notice. Shame on us for thinking others won’t notice. Shame on us for thinking we can act one way and live in blatant sin. We need to ask Him to break our hearts so we will want to be restored to our Lord.
We don’t have to be hypocrites…we have a choice.