Recently I had the pleasure of addressing this fun filled topic with Pastor Jeff Denton of Waterbrook Bible Fellowshipin Wylie, Texas. I am posting a question per day from that discussion. Here is part 2.
Pastor Jeff:
There are several reactions we can have to hypocrisy.
–Just accept it.“It’s part of every Christian’s life. We’re all hypocrites about something.”
–Use it as an excuse for not being part of God’s family.(Like today’s question: “Why would I hang out with those people?”“Those people are fakes and I don’t want to be with fake people.”)
–Rationalize it or Lower our standards.
To be honest with you – all these replies simply give credence to the accusation by someone outside the church —“Isn’t the church filled with hypocrites? I don’t want to be with them, so I don’t want Christ.”
We’ll address the issue of talking about hypocrisy with non-Christians in a moment. Dave, let’s talk first about hypocrisy among Christians and address it within the context of the church. I immediately think of the example of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).
1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
They keep some of the profit from the sale of some property, but claim to have given the entire amount of the sale price. They’re each struck dead for this deception, this hypocrisy of trying to look better than they are – generous, instead of greedy.
Can you give us some other examples of hypocrites in scripture?
Hypocrite Laureate Dave:
I think the example of Ananias and Sapphira is a great one because Peter is the one who accused them. By the way, that is a great passage to read right before you take the offering. We see that Peter was discerning and confronted the hypocritical actions of Ananias and Sapphira. But we fast forward in God’s Word and we find Peter being accused of hypocrisy by Paul in the 2nd chapter of Galatians.
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Fascinating. So Peter revealed hypocrisy in one passage and stands accused in another. And then he writes about hypocrisy in 1st Peter…chapter 2. It is a hypocrisy hat trick.
1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
I think that is a message to all of us. We are all capable of discerning hypocrites, capable of being a hypocrite and hopefully capable of seeing hypocrisy as a bad behavior. James talks a lot about actions that many would define as hypocrisy.
In Chapter 2 of James…
For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
Later in the chapter he says this…
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
James is full of annoying truths that challenge believers to live their faith and not set yourself up to be hypocritical.
Isn’t the church full of hypocrites? Part 2
Dave BurchettRecently I had the pleasure of addressing this fun filled topic with Pastor Jeff Denton of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship in Wylie, Texas. I am posting a question per day from that discussion. Here is part 2.
Pastor Jeff:
There are several reactions we can have to hypocrisy.
– Just accept it. “It’s part of every Christian’s life. We’re all hypocrites about something.”
– Use it as an excuse for not being part of God’s family. (Like today’s question: “Why would I hang out with those people?” “Those people are fakes and I don’t want to be with fake people.”)
– Rationalize it or Lower our standards.
To be honest with you – all these replies simply give credence to the accusation by someone outside the church — “Isn’t the church filled with hypocrites? I don’t want to be with them, so I don’t want Christ.”
We’ll address the issue of talking about hypocrisy with non-Christians in a moment. Dave, let’s talk first about hypocrisy among Christians and address it within the context of the church. I immediately think of the example of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).
1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
They keep some of the profit from the sale of some property, but claim to have given the entire amount of the sale price. They’re each struck dead for this deception, this hypocrisy of trying to look better than they are – generous, instead of greedy.
Can you give us some other examples of hypocrites in scripture?
I think the example of Ananias and Sapphira is a great one because Peter is the one who accused them. By the way, that is a great passage to read right before you take the offering. We see that Peter was discerning and confronted the hypocritical actions of Ananias and Sapphira. But we fast forward in God’s Word and we find Peter being accused of hypocrisy by Paul in the 2nd chapter of Galatians.
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Fascinating. So Peter revealed hypocrisy in one passage and stands accused in another. And then he writes about hypocrisy in 1st Peter…chapter 2. It is a hypocrisy hat trick.
1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
I think that is a message to all of us. We are all capable of discerning hypocrites, capable of being a hypocrite and hopefully capable of seeing hypocrisy as a bad behavior. James talks a lot about actions that many would define as hypocrisy.
In Chapter 2 of James…
For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
Later in the chapter he says this…
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
James is full of annoying truths that challenge believers to live their faith and not set yourself up to be hypocritical.
To be continued…