HYPOCRISY IS NOT ALWAYS THE GREATEST PROBLEM!
A person was asked why she quit going to church. She said that the church she was attending was full of hypocrites, and she could not stand them acting religious on Sundays and living like the devil the rest of the week. When she was asked if she confronted individuals who were living in sin, she said no. When asked why she didn't go to another church, she said she had attended several, and they all were alike. No one even tried to live according to Christ's standards. They all fell short and were a disgrace to His name. When asked how many churches she had attended, she said three. When asked how many churches there were in her area of town, she guessed about fifty. So, her sample of three was enough to convince her that fifty churches were failing to live life for their Lord. She said yes.
When she was asked if she was living a holy, Christ-like life, she admitted she struggled with some things, but that at least she was trying. When asked if she believed the "hypocrites" in her church could be struggling with their area of sin, and just didn't let on like they had a problem. She reluctantly said yes.
THE BIBLE SAYS THAT CHRISTIANS STILL SIN!
When she was asked if she understood the Apostle Paul struggled with sin, she said no. She was shown Romans 7:14-25, and told to notice the present tense of the verbs in the passage. She read:
[14] For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
[15] For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
[16] If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
[17] Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
[18] For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
[19] For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
[20] Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
[21] I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
[22] For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
[23] But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
[24] O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
[25] I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
She was reminded that the Apostle John wrote to Christians about dealing with sin in 1 John 1:8-10:
[8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
[9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.
FINALLY, SHE WAS ASKED THE ULTIMATE QUESTION:
She was asked in whom was she placing her faith, if the sins of her brothers and sisters caused her to quit obeying Jesus. After all, didn't Jesus tell us to love the brethren? He didn't say, love those who are perfect. We are to love the weak and even the hypocrites. In failing to gather together with them, and to love them in spite of their faults, wasn't she being a hypocrite? Weren't her eyes on the men and women of the church, instead of on Christ? What kind of faith is that?
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO LOVE THE BRETHREN AND ATTENDING CHURCH WITH THOSE WHOSE SINS ARE DIFFERENT THAN MINE! HYPOCRITES ARE SIMPLY A MIRROR TO SEE THE FLAWS IN OURSELVES!
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