The amount of people who have lost their faith in the Church due to hypocrisy confuse me. It is not because that I do not understand that hypocrisy is wrong and evil and rampant in the Church, but it’s that the same complaints they have against the Church are in every person everywhere, religious or not. Hypocrisy is a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess, according to dictionary.com[1]. If you really take the time to understand people, you will see that this characteristic is in most, if not all, people.
Most of us will claim that we are not hypocritical. To the delusional: how often have you required someone to do something you will not do? For instance, have you ever told a child not to lie? Have you ever lied after telling a child not to lie? Most people will lie to the children they asked not to tell a lie. Then, they will excuse their own lies with feelings of sparing the naïve and unlearned of hurt. Again, most of us are hypocritical. The definition of hypocrisy does not change with good intentions or religion.
Some of you will say, “At least I’m not judgmental like people in the church.” I laugh. Ask yourself, if you knew someone was homeless, contagious with a disease, terminally ill, born with a disability, or a criminal, would you treat them any different? Most would say no in theory, but yes with their actions and thoughts. The easiest way to know is by reviewing how you treat an “ugly” person versus a beautiful person. Most of us are only nonjudgmental in theory.
If you continue to believe you are a special case, ask yourself how you behaved in this last election. Did you think Republicans were worse than Democrats, or vice versa? What about when it came to the police shootings? Did you not express or think anything about the people involved? Are you going to lie, again, and try to convince yourself that you weren’t judgmental at all? The presidency of Donald Trump and the raid of the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021 are the easiest examples I’ve seen that caused many people to become judgmental of strangers. Things they wouldn’t want said about themselves, they were saying of complete strangers.
Imagine, the people who complain about judgmental people being judgmental themselves. You are aware that in order to call someone judgmental, you have to judge them? You know being judgmental isn’t just about what you say, right? It is also about what you do and how you treat people. If you are honest with yourself, you will see that you’ve been hypocritical in the past. It may not have been as much as the next person, or even intentional, but I tend to keep James 2:10[2] as a guideline, if you’ve done it once, you’ve done it, and are guilty of it. Therefore, you should have mercy on the next person who is guilty of it. Thank God for forgiveness, right?
Before you get to thinking I’m just defending the Church of all its nonsense, please understand that they are just as wrong as anyone else. Should they condemn? No[3]. Should they label people as evil? No[4]. Should they be unforgiving[5], elitist[6], pious[7], and disgraceful[8]? Their Bible says, “No.” They are some very hypocritical people. However, what I want you to do is come to an understanding of what you see.
The Holy Spirit has blessed many of us with an understanding of what is right and wrong. We see the fruits of both ideologies every day. The problem is, we see the evil, and instead of finding the solution to stop evil, we merely complain that there is evil in our midst.
Most of us have been shown the errors of the Church, but fail to realize that we received these revelations from the Holy Spirit so that we do not become as those who have hurt us. Instead of being better people than what we’ve experienced, we turn those sins into further hurt towards others that had nothing to do with the church group that originally hurt us. We become tools of Satan, thinking we’re being more “real” than the “fake” church attendees (judgments, by the way), but in my experience, everyone is acting fake about something whether we recognize it or not. We all ignore, or turn a blind eye to, certain faults within ourselves to make ourselves feel better.
I get it, the Church is supposed to be a different experience than the world. But you are assuming incorrectly if you think everyone is being obedient all the time. You’re lying to yourself if you believe every church is like the one you experienced. The body of Christ is more unique than that. You live in a world more unique than generalizations can accurately define. You want grace when you step into a church? Be that grace. Don’t rely on others as if they are God. They will quickly show you they are not.
Far too often, we hold churches to a higher standard than we ought to simply because they said they are a higher standard. Just because they say they’re better doesn’t mean it’s true. Find out for yourself before you start expecting more of them. Oftentimes, you will find out that they are just all talk, dependent upon the grace and mercy of God just like any nonbeliever. An athlete can talk all the trash they want to before a game starts. Until they prove their skills in a match, all they are doing is talking.
The same can be said about any church. They may be a part of the body of Christ, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t born in sin just like everyone else. It doesn’t mean that they have learned, or are even pushing towards bettering themselves. Why do you think Jesus said you will know them by their fruit[9]?
We all come from human wombs. We all live in this sinful world and get caught up in its pleasures. Read up on your Bible to understand whether or not they are behaving like they are supposed to be. How can you fix your mouth to say anything about what the Church is like if you haven’t read what the Church is supposed to be doing?
This methodology can be applied to all peoples. There are laws everywhere. See if the government, military, or police agencies are upholding those standards. See if teachers are holding up their requirements for higher learning. See if medical practitioners are sticking to their code of ethics. See if politicians are abiding by the laws they create. There are stories for each of these positions where someone was not doing what they were supposed to be doing. They were not holding themselves to their moral code. You know why? We’re all hypocrites.
In all your judging, do not forget to show grace, mercy, understanding, compassion, and forgiveness. America once thrived off of slavery and racism, and now it tries to condemn them. A few nations are repenting for the colonizing from centuries prior. Churches are apologizing for keeping pedophiles in leadership. The changes do happen. Don’t lose hope.
Instead of looking for every opportunity to complain about what others are doing, be grateful for the moment of clarity, which is given to you by the Holy Spirit. Determine in your heart to be a different, better person. Don’t continue complaining about the hypocrisy of others. Instead, be the shining example of what is right.
Police break the law, children disobey their parents, politicians look out for themselves rather than the people they represent, doctors sometimes kill the sick, teachers stupefy students, preachers curse congregations, and presidents persuade nations to implode. We are all hypocrites. It should not surprise you that there are hypocrites. You should only be surprised if you fail to do anything with that information. Don’t just sit there, watching people be hypocrites, and not put a stop to it. Take up the mantle and be true to your word.
Ending hypocrisy doesn’t start with you running away from hypocrites, as most of you have run from God and Church. Ending hypocrisy starts with you calling hypocrisy out and then remaining true to your word in spite of it. As the Bible said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”[10] If you see hypocrisy, decide to be truth, and not the quiet, judgmental truth, but the outspoken, leading-by-example truth that this world desperately needs.
It is time to let the Church hurt go. It is time to stop looking for an apology. It is time to stop blaming God for not interfering the way you want Him to interfere. He has given you the opportunity to understand evil and the pain that comes with it. Heal, grow, move on, learn, and be something different. You all have been given an opportunity to become something better than what you’ve experienced. Go and make sure no one else experiences the same pain, confusion, and hypocrisy. Be different
With encouragement,
Dario Augustus
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[1] Hypocrisy | Definition of Hypocrisy at Dictionary.com [2] James 2:10 NRSV - For whoever keeps the whole law but - Bible Gateway [3] Luke 6:37-42 NRSV - Judging Others - “Do not judge, and - Bible Gateway [4] Ephesians 6:12; 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalms 139 NRSV - For our struggle is not against enemies - Bible Gateway [5] Colossians 3:12-13 NRSV - As God’s chosen ones, holy and - Bible Gateway [6] James 2:1-4; Proverbs 22:16 NRSV - Warning against Partiality - My - Bible Gateway [7] Matthew 6:1-18 NRSV - Concerning Almsgiving - “Beware of - Bible Gateway [8] Proverbs 3:27 NRSV - Do not withhold good from those to whom - Bible Gateway [9] Matthew 7:15-19 NIV - True and False Prophets - “Watch out - Bible Gateway [10] Matthew 5:37 NIV - All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ - Bible Gateway
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