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In what ways have you seen hypocrisy in the church negatively impact the church’s witness to the world? What do you feel is the best way to eliminate hypocrisy in the church?
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I have spoken with numerous people who claim that they have been turned off from the church by hypocrisy. This humanity and imperfection prevents people from knowing Jesus, the only perfect person. While it would be impossible to eliminate hypocrisy from the church (because it is made up of imperfect people), confession is the best way that I have found to overcome it. When people see authenticity, they are more willing to accept imperfections. When they see people owning up to their mistakes and then making an effort to improve, it is easy to see Christ at work in the church.
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In the traditional church in America, I have seen hypocrisy in numerous forms. Churches place denominational regulations and their own way of doing things above the way God says things should be done. Their man-made rules for decorum and structure often do not correlate with God’s Word. In this way they impede their spiritual growth and outreach potential. The rules and expectations of the particular congregation varies but generally only those who do things the way they do are accepted. Other believers who may worship differently are looked down on or singled out in an attempt to force uniformity (mistaken as harmony. These comparisons are not biblical. The body of Christ, the church, must learn that as long as a person is not violating any law of God then they are to be accepted and loved. We must also learn to not expect non-believers to behave as we do and must not condemn them for how they behave. Additionally, we must not expect new believers to completely change immediately or to know and understand our “church” language. The church must stop believing they are better than others or that one sin in worse than another. Both of these ideas are wrong. Instead, each of us must be living epistles for Christ and do our part to reach the lost and dying world.
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I have seen many Christians say one thing and their actions speak differently. I don’t know if hypocrisy can be eliminated because we are sinful people in a sinful world.
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When people see Christians doing things that is contrary to the Bible they turn their back on the church. They do not believe in salvation in Christ and do not believe they themselves can be changed.
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Non-Christians sometimes expect professing Christians to be perfect in their daily walk. All too often as a Christian makes mistakes and falls, a non-believer condemns the church. There are sometimes unrealistic standards that a non-believer expects of ALL church members. It is hard for non-believers to accept ‘none of us are perfect’ to explain our shortcomings. A possible way to eliminate some hypocrisy in the church is to continually search our own hearts for ways that our daily witness may be compromised by actions — either intentionally or inadvertently. We should seek to remember that just because we can doesn’t mean we should.