A bunch of hypocrites?

But aren’t all “Christians” really just a bunch of hypocrites?

That is the classic question from the skeptic isn’t it?

We all know some who put on their mask to attend church on Sunday for a few hours then live worse than most non-Christians with the rest of their week. I knew a “Christian” woman one time that was cut throat as they come in business. It was on “open secret” that she was sleeping around with her “boyfriend”…problem being that she happen to be married to someone else and her “boyfriend” was married also.

The answer really to the question is not that all “Christians” are hypocrites. The answer is some have never understood what it really means to be a Christian in the first place and they are just lost folks who misrepresent Jesus to the world

These types of “Christians” will one day hear Jesus at the final judgment say to them, “…‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:23)

If we really know Jesus and have really made Him the Lord of our lives we might make a mistake here and there but we will not live in a cesspool of sin as a lifestyle. If we know “about Jesus” and know a few stories and so forth we might live like a hypocrite. But not if we know Jesus in a personal relationship, being a Christian has nothing to do with Baptism, church membership or knowing “about Jesus”.

In a real relationship with Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit living in our hearts because we have asked Jesus to be our Lord. In this sort of relationship if I step out of line the Holy Spirit convicts me and I repent. This is what is known as the “fruit of the Spirit” in a believer’s life. Basically, the idea is that if we really have the Holy Spirit in our hearts it will change us from the inside out. A change in heart will always result in a change in the way we think and act.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:19-23)

Please note these behaviors listed in the verses above are not things that we are “required” to do in order to be saved. To put it another way, this is not a list of “do’s” and “don’ts”. These are things that we should do as a natural course if we truly know Jesus and have truly had the Holy Spirit take up residence in our hearts. These are things that will be an indication to us if we have had a true change of heart or merely church membership.

In other words, where do you camp out most of the time? In the flesh or abiding in the Spirit? If your answer is in the flesh, I think you need to really examine your relationship with the Lord to find out if you are merely religious or have you made Jesus the true Lord of your life?

A change of heart is not something we can bring about as a work of the flesh or by our own efforts it is something the Holy Spirit starts to do the moment we accept Jesus. Will we ever be perfect this side of Heaven? No, but we should start to see some improvement as time goes by. All we can do is take up our cross daily spending time in the study of God’s word and asking Jesus in prayer to draw us closer to Him so that He can mold us into what He would have us to be. There is no room for religion here or the self-help programs of man. There is only room for a relationship of abiding in Christ and seeking after Him daily.

So what about the “Christian” that lives like hell on earth so that the skeptic looks at them and says all Christians are hypocrites? Are they saved? If you are a “Christian” who lives this way are you truly saved? I can’t answer that question for you because I cannot know your heart. Only God knows your heart and He will reveal it to you if you simply ask Him in prayer. But I would caution that if you never have any fruit of the Spirit in your daily walk you might really want to seek the Lord as to why you have had no change in your life.

What you do not want is to be religious or a “cultural Christian” and give yourself a false sense of security that will one day lead to you hearing, “depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”