Hypocrites and Halfhearts

 

Many people are ashamed of Christ. They would rather not be associated with Jesus in public or on their social media profiles. On Sundays they sing hymns and say how much they love Jesus, but come Monday they are back to masquerading as secular people. Honestly, this shallowness is a fulfillment of Scripture. Jesus says, "many will come to me on that day (Judgment Day), saying we caste out demons in your name, healed people in your name, and I will say to them, I never knew you, depart from me you workers of wickedness!" (Matthew 7:22). Then there is the Scripture that says, "If you publicly acknowledge me before others, I shall acknowledge you before my Father, but if you deny me before others, I shall deny you before my Heavenly Father." (Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8-9). Honestly, there are man pseudo or lukewarm Christians who are professing Jesus on Sunday, but denying Him on Monday through Saturady with their friends, family, and faculty at schools.

St. Paul says that "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block for the Jew and foolishness to the Gentile. But for us who believe it is very truth of God." (). Many pseudo-followers profess to follow Jesus, but their life reflects the opposite and when under the scrutiny of the Spirit and the Saints. There is an epidemic in the Church today, this epidemic is hypocrisy. Jesus hated the hypocrites (Pharisees) and said, "they will lead the way into hell," and "are sons of their father the devil." (John 8:44). In fact our Lord said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the Pharisees and teachers of religious law, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20). Many theologians have been puzzled by this statement. Does that mean we have to be religious and follow all the laws of Talmud? If you compare this statement by the Savior, you will understand that Jesus is saying you must not be hypocrites, that to be better than the Pharisees means to not just teach the Truth, but live it. The Pharisees "laid heavy yokes and religious burdens" on people, and that is why Jesus said, "I give rest to my children. My yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30). So we can see affirm that Jesus would not be meaning to follow harsh rules and be like the Pharisees; instead our Lord is asking us to keep our word.

Rather, "being a little better than the Pharisees," means to not be a hypocrite and "practice what you preach and live up to what you profess." (Romans 2:21). This is hard in our culture where many would rather instruct than actually practice. Many will get up and say "give up all your money and give it to the poor," but how many pastors or leaders do you know that preach this actually do it? By definition anyone who tells you to do something hard such as leave your riches or maybe at less extreme give up something you like and yet will not do it themselves is a hypocrite!

Those Christians who on Sundays  seem to seek Jesus, but then come Monday make Mammon and madness their masters are hypocrites and liars. They give people the impression at church that they care about Christ, but live like children of the devil. In fact, the Word says that these kind of people are doomed to hell and that "it would have been better if they had never been saved in the first place" (2 Peter 2:21-22). For a person who pretends to be pious and devote follower of Jesus and really is sold out to the world and lives double life brings shame and dishonor to Christ's name. The honor of God is often lost in our modern day churches. We carry Christ's name on our person, it is sketched or branded upon our faces and surrounding every step we take. When you do evil and people know you are Christian, it reflects badly on Christ and tarnishes his name to people who could have come to know Him!

Jesus Christ is loving. Just look at the Crucifixion and you shall see God's love manifest in its most profound and transcended form. How could anyone question the love of God who came in flesh and died in manner that to this day has found no equal in severity and pain. The love of God is manifest in God's Son Jesus Christ and yet people who know this, who may have heard it all their lives in Sunday School and profess to believe it do not reflect that love, but rather spit in face of their Savior by dishonoring that Sacrifice and living a life of sin and hypocrisy.

I think branding is interesting. Go on any social media and you will see your friends liking their favorite brands ranging from shoes to movie stars. What I have found intriguing is that if you look at the profile pages you will often find not sign of their faith. In fact, you may have to dig into the 'About' them data to finally find a sign they are Christian. Please do not mistake where I headed, I am not trying to advocating judgementalism towards people and profile pages. But it interests me. Sure there are groups on facebook and twitter that have Jesus and Bible verses popping up daily, some may even remark that one of their friends is always sharing or tweeting a Scripture. Just because someone has a cross or picture of Christ on their profile does not prove they have a personal relationship with Jesus; it could just be a religious or superstitious person who thinks they have to put that up to out of obligation or ward off something evil. But putting that group of people aside, shouldn't every aspect of our lives testify to our close ties to Christ? Honestly, I do not presume to judge people who do not have Jesus as their social media picture or banner; but I am curious why clergy, pastors, and ministers who supposedly have a relationship with Jesus and also make their living serving the Lord also do not have pictures of Jesus on their profiles.

What I am trying to get at is not some self conscious measuring stick for devotion, but purely a question. Why do people who say they love Jesus and follow Him have hardly a trace of Him on their social media? The second question is similar, why do people go to church services & Bible Studies and act like servants of Christ but then in their politics, preferences, private and personal lives act like prodigals who are chasing every pernicious and perverse  thing under the sun? The is serious disease in the church that reminds me of Janus, the Roman god that had two faces and two personalities. The problem is that in the end you will not be rewarded for being duplicitous; Jesus will judge the "lukewarm and spew them from his mouth." (Revelation 3:16).

Its time to for those in the church to wake up and examine themself. Do you caste Christ aside the moment you head to school or go to hang out with friends? Does your service to God only exist in confines of Sunday meeting and then rest of the week you are no different than the world? If so, you need to ask yourself if you are really saved, because it seems the relationship with Jesus is not your priority and that you are treating it more like being in a club or sub culture than being connected to the Creator and Christ. Its time for believers to let their lives reflect and show Jesus Christ. We are temples of the Lord (Romans 8:9) and people are looking to us and seeing if God is really among us. This is a personal responsibility for the believer! We are live each day as witness for Jesus Christ and cause those watching us to consider the Gospel and be saved by Him.