Those narrow-minded Christians with their high ideals are really just hypocrites in disguise!
So goes the stereotype, which may be why people savor a juicy story that exposes a “holier-than-thou’s” terrible sins and indiscretions: the family-values warrior picked up by the police for picking up a prostitute, the financial stewardship guru jailed for embezzlement, or the snobby Christian coworker who announces her divorce.
Nothing unites the opponents of Christianity more than hatred of hypocrisy. And words from Jesus (“Judge not”) and Ghandi (“I like your Christ, but not your Christians”) fill the banners of the anti-hypocrite parade.
The smell of hypocrisy is often strong in the Christian church. If we’re honest, we can sniff out hypocrisy everywhere, including our own hearts. We talk a good talk when it comes to evangelism, but don’t follow through with talking about Jesus with others. We applaud the importance of strong marriages and families, but behind closed doors we battle the cold-shouldered spouse or the defiance of our kids. Even in “good” families and churches where Christ is exalted, our homes and churches are a mess – a mix of good and bad, with our journey of holiness taking place all too slowly, in fitful stops and starts.
The criticism is true. At some level, we’re all hypocrites. We know how to put on a show. And since we follow a Savior who said secrets would be exposed and whispered words would be made known, we shouldn’t be surprised when our hypocrisy becomes as public as our ideals.
So there’s a sense in which outrage against Christian hypocrisy is understandable, for the outrage is, in a twist of irony, Christian. You don’t find a greater critic of religious folks than Jesus Himself. He saved His severest words for the Pharisees – not because they had failures and flaws but because they wouldn’t acknowledge their sin and repent.
Hypocrisy among Christians is real, but hypocrisy isn’t something you find only among Christians. Here’s where the critics of hypocrisy need to stop pretending to be Judge Jesus and take a seat in the dock. Because everyone is a hypocrite.
Who lives up to their ideals 100% of the time? Where are the progressives who always live up to their ideal of fair-mindedness? Where are the Buddhists who have never stumbled on the eight-fold path? Where are the humanists who have never uttered an inhumane word?
Don’t we all fail in various ways to be what we want to be? To live up to the ideals we say should guide our lives?
Why then the focus on Christian hypocrisy?
That is the question that reveals how the charge against Christian hypocrisy, though exceptionally fierce, harbors a hidden compliment. Outrage over Christian hypocrisy says: We expect more from Christians.
Christians worship a King whose standard was, by all measures, “unreasonable” and idealistic. Reading the Sermon on the Mount is like getting hit by a two-by-four, and then in the daze that follows, being filled with inexplicable hope: There’s a kingdom like this?
The Christian experiment – the ideals we put forth and inevitably fail to achieve – are so grand that one can’t help but feel judged by their excessiveness. Our Jesus condemned hypocrisy, but He also lifted high the intent of God’s Law.
So what is the solution? Pretending to love our enemies when we don’t? Pretending to tell the truth at all times? Deceiving people by hiding our lust and anger?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, Jesus said at the beginning. The entry into this kingdom is repentance. Striving has its place, but only among the penitent, not the self-righteous. The same King who called us to perfection is the King who saved His verbal lashings for the unrepentant hypocrites among the religious, not the worst of the sinners who came to His table.
The world holds Christians to a higher standard because Jesus Himself holds His people to a higher standard. The solution is not to point out the world’s hypocrisy for focusing only on Christian hypocrites, but instead to douse our hypocritical hearts with tears of repentance.
The hypocrites we hate are those who cling steadfastly to their self-righteousness and their good intentions. The hypocrites Jesus loves are those whose hands are open to His grace and His forgiveness.
Repentance has a fragrance; hypocrisy, a stench.
