HYPOCRISY IS OFTEN BEMOANED BY MANY….

Hypocrisy is often bemoaned by many, both inside and outside the church. But we just as often admit that no one is perfect or without sin. So what does hypocrisy look like, actually? Jesus describes the person as a white-washed tomb, pretty on the outside and dead on the inside. How can we know if we are such a person? The key is the inner life.

Fruit is an absolute necessity in a believer. In John 15, the branch that does not bear fruit is cut off. Are we confused about what that fruit is, though? Perhaps we think fruit is some type of blessing, material or otherwise. Perhaps we think it is being in a position of authority in the church. Maybe we think fruit is the number of people who attend a Bible study or worship service. Maybe it is the number of people we have shared the gospel with or the number of people who have attended church with us.

But Jesus is constantly clear that what he wants most in believer’s is for their inner person to reflect His life. This is the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Hypocrisy is perhaps not the absence of sin, because that is impossible, but rather the absence of Galatians 5:22 in our lives. As that fruit is born out in our lives, especially that fruit of love, it covers a multitude of sins.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said, “Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me”. In light of Pastor Harry’s point that hypocrisy will always be in the church, that the wheat and the tares will continue to grow side by side until all is redeemed, we can take this moment to evaluate ourselves, and decide that hypocrisy may come into the church. It may even triumph for a time. But not through us. Then the wheat and tares will continue to exist beside one another, but the tares will be far fewer.