While I would certainly disagree with such a statement, I have heard more than a few people make that accusation. It is certainly true that not everyone who claims Christianity is honest about who they are and the life they are living. In the New Testament, prophecies were made concerning the church, especially concerning hypocrisy that would arrive and worsen as time would continue. Read what Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
This grim prophecy points to a time when people would create a hollow shell of godliness, a form that appears holy on the outside but contains no substance. It is a time of faithless people who still claim to walk with God (Hebrews 11:1; 1 John 1:6). There are people who claim to serve God but who really serve idols of varying types. I doubt that comes as a revelation to anyone. What we must communicate to each other and to the skeptical lost soul is that the value of Christianity is not diminished by those who falsely claim it. The value of Christianity rests in Christ Jesus, the only Savior of the world (Acts 4:12), and in the way of life that is taught by His grace (Titus 2:11-14). Those who follow His ways, who confess their sins and repent and return to God, are the ones who truly display the power of God and the value of Christianity. Let’s examine our lives and make sure we are walking worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1) and not placing a stumbling block in anyone’s path (Matthew 18:7). Let us display true Christianity, so that when anyone makes a blanket accusation of hypocrisy we can point to each other and prove that true, faith-filled Christianity exists today.
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Eli Schnell is the Youth and Family Minister at the Northwest Church of Christ Archives
August 2018
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