July 31, 2005

Swimming With Sharks : The Hypocritical Christian


This article addresses the actions of hypocritical Christians.

Swimming With Sharks : The Hypocritical Christian

Enduring the actions and attitudes of a hypocrite reminds me of swimming with sharks. The shark thinks nothing of taking a bite out of someone. In the same respect, the Christian hypocrite thinks nothing of taking bites out of their fellow man.

Have you ever met a Christian whose judgmental actions and attitudes make you cringe?

They're ready to let you know what you've done wrong, yet their own unchristian like ways they are oblivious to.

Luke 6:41

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Instead of being consumed and harping on their fellow man's sins, they should throw all of that energy into taking care of their own sinfulness and shortcomings. But these people NEVER do that. They are much too busy sticking their noses into the business of everyone around them. Jesus called these people hypocrites.

Luke 6:42

Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

Being Hypo-Critical

critical

marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws; "a critical attitude"

Why do they do it?

I believe that hypocrites suffer from

"Misplaced Introspection"

*I made this name up myself and it describes those who have practiced inspecting everyone else's lives to the neglect of their own*

Introspection means :A looking inward; specifically, the act or process of self-examination

Weighing and judging other people's actions is their way of avoidance. What are they trying to avoid?

The mirror

They would rather avoid taking a good healthy look at the actions and motives of their own heart. So instead, they fix their gaze onto the next best alternative, everyone else's actions and motives.

It never ceases to amaze me how we overlook the sin inside of us that we should be focused on, yet we are all too ready to focus on another's sinful ways. Sometimes the sin that is within ourselves appears to be small and insignificant, but in reality it can be a huge beast of a problem that must be conquered.

Concerning the conduct of others, hypocrites should remain silent much of the time rather than blasting others with their input. Hypocrites attempt to FORCE people to live as they would like them to. God made each and every one of us with a WILL. And nobody can override another's will for any reason. I don't want someone telling me how to live, I choose instead to pick up my bible and read up on how to live well.

The hypocrite who touts Christianity desires shouting out other people's shortcomings and sins from the rooftops but they are lacking in the attributes of long suffering and mercy. They certainly come up short on personal introspection.

This reminds me of an accuser of the brethren.

The only thing that God desires us to do if we are confused and bothered by the actions of others is to PRAY for them and have faith that he will do a work in their lives that will save them from a life of misery before it is too late. Barring this, we are only to speak to them about their sin if we are confident that God has told us to specifically, and even then we are to do so ONLY with love and compassion in our hearts toward them.

Christian Hypocrites Thwart God's Will for Others

If we truly believe that God is able to clean our neighbor's life up and set them on a solid rock and on the path toward everlasting life, then why do we so often offend them and thwart what he is trying to do in their lives by living as a hypocrite?

Why do we get angry when others don't listen to us and live as we encourage them to?

Our anger toward them is not going to change them.

There is an over abundance of unsolicited advice going out from hypocrites.

Instead of blasting them with our opinions, we should tell them the truth *if they ask us* in LOVE and compassion. This is what Jesus did. His anger was stirred at the Pharisees and nobody else, why do you suppose that was?

Because it was the Pharisees who were trying to trap him and trip him up by his words and actions. It was the way of the Pharisees to act pious toward other's. It was the Pharisees who were religious hypocrites!

Christian Hypocrites and Anger

Hypocrites always seem to be mad about something, especially Christian hypocrites. The hypocrites anger comes from living a life that is making them unhappy. Many of them are living by their OWN power and not relying on the power that comes only from the Holy Spirit and truth. This is why they are so puffed up and full of pride. Because they may say they are living their life with God's help but in reality they are not. Hypocrites truly ARE living their life through their OWN power. This leaves them nothing but an empty feeling inside of them and when they see the freedom in Christ that other's enjoy, their anger shows. But you can forget approaching them with this truth. As I said, they are blind to their own faults, yet very aware of the faults of others. They believe they are right on all counts and live so much better than their fellow man.

Those who rely on the power of God to live their lives do NOT have a pride problem. In fact, they are only too aware of their weaknesses and shortcomings and this is why they KNOW that they must rely on God's grace and mercy to help them live this life.

Do as we say and not as we do

Generally, people will not DO what we tell them to do. We will usually butt heads with someone if they attempt to control us. What people will do is notice how we live and notice how we treat others. That is more of a witness than a thousand words will ever be to them. We were never meant to allow another person to control us, God is the one who should have that
privilege.

If we see what appears to be SIN in other's lives, we have all kinds of advice for them that might "help" them. When we see what appears to us to be sinfulness in another, we would do well to pray for them and NEVER do anything that would offend them and turn them away from Christ in any way. Many have been hurt and angered by these hypocritical Christian zealots and very few have been helped by them.

The Christian hypocrite would do well to ponder on the following scripture and put it to work in their own life:

Romans 14:4

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow you are the first person I have ever heard talk about Christian hypocracy that nailed it on the head. I have felt turned away from following Christ from so called Christians that know better than you how to live but they don't have to live by their own words. I have been totally confused.
I am told all my childhood not to have illicit sex. I obeyed.Then I got married, then my dad says to my mom, "maybe they should have lived together?" Right in front of us. Uhm, what? I felt betrayed. You mean I could have just lived with this guy and you would have been happy? That marriage ended in divorce, my husband left me for his mommy. I guess he didn't have what he needed to be a responsible person. Boy was I fooled, and he was supposed to be a Christian. I took up with my now current husband of many years. I lived with him first because by then I had heard all the do as we say not as we do lines you could imagine. I hated Christians and their fakey religious views. I finally married my hubby after thinking I probably should. I didn't invite or tell my family, we lived in a different state. His family came for us though. Mmhmm. My mother had found out I had been living with my hubby and I decided that was the last time I was going to talk to her on any subject. I had spent 15 years of hearing how I never did anything correctly so why bother? I wasn't Christian enough, I mostly was told how sinful I was and selfish in my life, day in day out, and every night at dinner as a kid I got to hear about how horrible the world was going to get and we were all going to be hunted down like dogs for being Christian.
One day I am talking to my very Christian sister in law on the phone, she called me, the one who thought I was a messed up person, maybe I was, and she said "we Love you no matter what you do, and even if you marry your man (I am not giving his name here) we will love him too. I told them I had been married for some time. Dead silence. Frankly I didn't want them in my life anylonger. I have not been able to go to a church after me and my husbands last experience. The church got into a really bad fight and the congregation split and the minister left. He was good, he cared about people, he showed it. But they didn't like him. We have never been back to church since then. Why bother? Either Christians are into their little cliques and they are always right or they openly tell you all your faults and how you are going to experience God's wrath. I'm sorry I thought you said he was a God of Love, when does that happen? So I am reading other non Christian scriptures today to see what the other religious views are. Maybe I can try to get back to Christianity but I have to see some real caring and LOVE from todays Christians.

Anonymous said...

There are good and bad examples of all religions, which is why we are required to have a relationship with Christ and not simply practice religion. You simply can not group all Christians in to the same group with one bad example(your Mother). While your mother was harsh in not loving you correctly regardless of your sin, God does love you regardless, God himself tells us this in his word. Not that your sin is any worse than anyone elses...we were all born in sin, all fall short. The main concern should be your relationship with Christ and not your relationship with your mother. It is your soul not hers that is on the line, your salvation not hers. I hope and pray that you will seek God with all of your heart, he will stick closer than a brother and will fulfull all of your needs. But He will not force you, He gave you free will, He also gave his only begotten son, so that you could have eternal life...therefore it is up to you to repent and seek God's forgiveness. God is Love and it is a life and death decision

Anonymous said...

I struggle daily with hypocritical christians. It damages MY faith to have to hear people I trust betray the truth out of convenience. My faith is not strong right now but I would like to build back up. I get dragged down because almost every christian I know claims to live by the book but keeps thousands of stolen dvd's or cheats on their taxes or any other number of self serving activities. When I witness this, all I can think is I DO NOT WANT TO BE LIKE THAT.

Anonymous said...

my husband is hypocritical,i admit i have not been dedicated to christ for long,but i understand the basics.he has thrown me out of the house when our baby was only a week old etc.thrown me on the ground.thru all of this i have remained a loving serving wife.but i confronted him about his watching porn siting that the bible compares it to adultery.he denied it and continued to say is a snarky tone what do you know about any of that?you havent read the whole bible!i do know what it is to be married and to love..he just screams at me and blame shifts.he can nhever be wrong..i never thought he would bge the one to challenge my new found faith..i pray and pray..im at the end of my ropes.