Premise 1: Christianity is the only organization where “being a sinner” is a requirement for membership

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners

Mark 2:17

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief

Apostle Paul; 1 Timothy 1:15

The true Christian church believes what Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” The word sin in the New Testament is the greek word “hamartia” which means to miss the mark. A true Christian is someone who knows he misses the mark and apologizes to God and His fellow man when he does so. The true Christian church is where people who miss the mark go to find forgiveness and acceptance despite their failure.

Some might say: “But Christians have promised to be good people. Maybe I’m only human but Christians aren’t allowed to be hypocrites.” In truth, is this really right and fair?

Despite the stereotype, Christianity isn’t a religion full of do-gooders looking down on the rest of society saying ‘do a bit better now, God’s watching!’ That’s not true of Christianity. Despite the assumptions people make, Christians are people who know they need help, who know they can’t please God. True Christians know that they’re hypocrites. They know that they’re selfish, greedy, pretending. They know that they have the power to hurt others.

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Biblical Christianity promotes authenticity instead of pretension

Jesus painted a vivid picture of what this looks like:

True Christianity doesn’t embrace hypocrisy. They know they are capable of being hypocritical, selfish, and turning away from God. True Christianity seeks to be honest about these failures, and seek God and other’s help to overcome them.

Premise 2 : Hypocrisy is a bigger problem for all of us than we might think

The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching

John Wooden, UCLA National Championship Coach

What if people could know our every thought, action, and word? What if there was a surveillance tape of each person’s life and every secret behavior was documented? Wouldn’t such a tape reveal that all of us have hidden the worst part’s of us from the world so they would think we are better than we are?

Worst yet, what if this scenario wasn’t hypothetical at all and all our secret behaviors, thoughts, and words are being completely documented by God Himself and He sees OUR hypocrisy in living color. The Bible says over and over that this is indeed taking place.

So be careful not to jump to conclusions before the Lord returns as to whether or not someone is faithful. When the Lord comes, he will bring our deepest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. And then God will give to everyone whatever praise is due.

1 Corinthians 4:5

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account

Hebrews 4:13

When we think of hypocrisy, we usually think of what we saw someone else do or say. Rarely do we think about what God saw us do or heard us say.

The bigger issue always is ” What did God hear from us, or What did God see us do” The Bible speaks about hypocrisy as a problem between us and God. The God who knows every thought, word, action, non-action, attitude and motive can see into every situation we are in.

In the Bible, the thing God most often calls us out on is that we have turned away from him. We have turned away from the God who is all knowing and can see into each and every situation we find ourselves in. He knows the moments of cheating or inauthenticity that plague us and that we regret. He knows when we are hiding or pretending, and when our selfishness hurts others. Our hypocrisy and the suffering that it can cause is part of a wider problem, we are not living as God intended

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Final Thoughts

The bottom line truth is that our hypocrisy is just a symptom of the greater issue that we are all sinners. That despite all of our best efforts we all can be selfish, less than honest, and yes, even unauthentic. We all continue to miss the mark in one way or another.

We need the help of the one who never missed the mark.

So what are we meant to do about hypocrisy? What are we meant to do about sin and brokenness? Jesus said this to his followers one day: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him’ (John 14:6).

Jesus says he has done something about it. We can try and try to do a bit better – and that’s a good thing – but it won’t fix the problem. Jesus has done something about the deeper problem. He has done something about our brokenness, sin and hypocrisy.

Jesus describes himself as truth; he is authenticity. But he is also the way to the Father, the God who loves us but who we in our pride and rebellion have turned away from. God knows we are only human, but he’s done something about it. The accounts of Jesus’ life from which I’ve quoted here tell us of how God sent his Son, to die on a Roman cross, being punished with the penalty that we should have paid for our wrongdoing and the hurt that we cause. The consequences of the inauthenticity or lying or cheating we regret, has been taken away. The gap between us not living the way that we intend is closed, leaving us a way to God through Jesus, one who is truth and authenticity.

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