“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” [Matt. 23:27-28]
I grew up in grade school with three friends who all attended church regularly. Two of them went to the prestigious First Baptist Church. The other friend attended the Presbyterian Church. All three professed faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized. I saw no difference in their lives.
One was a thief and a drug user, which eventually landed him in prison. The other two were fornicators. All three were foul-mouthed. They pretended to be good at church or around authority figures but I saw the truth. They were hypocrites. None of them ever invited me to church; not that I would have gone with them anyway.
I heard their jokes. I listened to their locker room talk of sexual excursions with girls whom they did not care about. I witnessed the results of their stealing and on more than one occasion saw them guzzling booze even though they were under-aged. I can’t say it bothered me at the time. I had seen play-acting in church all my life at home, in extended family, and with my friends.
God’s people are not supposed to play act. We are to be distinct, set apart, transformed, and consistent in our behavior both in and outside of church. Far too many pew dwellers appear righteous for the show, but in real life there is no substance.
This can only be attributed to two things in my book. Either the hypocrite is backslidden and out of fellowship with God. In that case, such a person needs to come in repentance and be revived and restored to the Lord. The other scenario suggests such a person is not truly saved at all. You cannot revive something that is not alive in the first place. Many people sit smugly in the pews with their names permanently written on the membership roles, yet they have no relationship with Jesus Christ. Hell fire awaits such a one.
Has your life as a Christian been playacting? Are you a hypocrite? Does the indwelling Jesus Christ manifest His life in you and through you? The time is past for hypocrisy. If you pretend to be righteous but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness then let me say what is long past due, you need to repent.
It is time to come clean before the Lord. He is still patient and merciful and willing to revive. Do not think for one moment He is fooled or tolerant of the hypocrisy in the church today. It is time, way past time, to be honest before the Lord and the church. It is time for the bride of Christ, that is the church, to clean herself up and prepare herself to be wed to Christ at His second coming. He does not want a spotted and stained bride. Repentance is the order of the day. Let us not put it off any longer.
Steps to Revival
1. List all the areas in your life where you know you have been pretending and living in hypocrisy?
2. Whom has your hypocrisy hurt and alienated from God and His church? You need to go to them to make it right.
3. Will you repent, “change your mind and turn away from your sin” today? If not, why not? What holds you back?
4. Ask the Lord to empower you through the Holy Spirit to live as a follower of Christ consistently.
5. Who will you allow to come beside you to hold you accountable? Will you give someone the permission to ask you hard the questions about sin in your life?
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