“I’ve considered being a Christian before, but there are too many hypocrites in the church.”
Have you ever felt this way? Or maybe met someone in your life who felt this way? I have. This can be a challenge for many people who engage in spiritual discussions. This is actually a very common reason why many people either leave the church or refuse to join it altogether.
How should we respond to this argument: that the church is full of hypocrites and therefore the church should be rejected? If you feel this way yourself, consider, is this a valid justification for refusing to acknowledge Jesus?
When someone says to me, “there are so many hypocrites in the church.” My first response would be this….
YOU’RE RIGHT!
The church is made up of men of many different types and personalities. Are some of them hypocrites who aren’t practicing what they preach? Yes I'm sure there are. However, does that discredit the church? No way!
Let me make a simple illustration. If I start teaching that 1+1 = 3, what would you say? You should tell me that I’m wrong. But here’s the real question; just because I’m teaching error regarding this simple math question, does that mean that math as a whole is to be thrown out and considered “not worth our time?” Silly example, but it’s the same logic.
Applying this example, does the existence of a few individuals teaching or practicing error discredit Christianity as a whole? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Christianity, the way God designed it, is perfect and has no error to it. Error enters the picture when you introduce men into it. Because men aren't perfect. Christianity, the way some men often practice it, has error.
Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
This mindset that we are discussing is one that becomes prevalent when we place our trust too strongly in men instead of God. Because sadly, there are many men in the world today who claim to practice Christianity, who really don’t. However, if we dismiss the entire notion of Christianity on this basis, then we are simply distracted from what’s important.
Men are not infallible as God is, so men will mess things up. There are many different teachings and beliefs in the world today that men call "Christianity" that don't line up with the Bible and what it teaches as truth. It's important to note that errors made by men, or sinful lifestyles that people adopt that they call "Christianity," don't discredit Christianity, the Bible, or God. There is a true and correct way to be a Christian, and its authenticity and validity are not to be questioned due to any individual or group being in error. To question Christianity on this basis is a logical error.
1 John 1:8 says that “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” No one should be too arrogant to admit that sin exists in their life. Because we all sin! Because of this fact, we should expect to find sin amongst brothers in the church, and not be surprised by it. This doesn’t mean that we tolerate it, it just means we shouldn’t be surprised when we see it.
So, to the one who finds hypocrites in the church and is upset by it; here are two Biblical principals to remember:
1. We can point it out to them and help them! In Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus talks about this very thing. He cautions us first to check our own lives first to resolve sins that we may need to rid ourselves of, but then teaches that if we have dealt first with our own sins, then we can help others with theirs.
So if we see sin in the church, lets deal with it and get rid of it together!
2. Ultimately, we can trust God to separate the weeds from the wheat. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13:24-30 about the separation of weeds and wheat. Ultimately Jesus is talking about the church and the fact that there will always be a mix of good faithful people (the wheat) and sinful people who need to be removed and “thrown away” (the weeds). God is a righteous and all-knowing judge who will be fully capable of sorting out the truly faithful from those who are not.
So if we see sin in the church, and consider avoiding God as a result, think again! We are still expected to be faithful, even amongst the weeds. God will take care of the weeds later.
Finding sinful or hypocritical people in the church is NOT AT ALL a valid excuse to dismiss Jesus all together. It’s not sound logic, nor will God be accepting of it.
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