SUNDAY SERMON - There are many people out there who have refused to join churches simply because "there are too many hypocrites in the church”.

Though I do not subscribe to this theory, I believe that this is a legitimate statement and may present genuine reasons for preventing people from becoming Christians.

It is also true that many church-goers and those who lead churches may be presenting different faces at different times depending on who is watching.

Brotherly love, generosity, sincerity, respect, genuine concern and holy living are some traits which the outside world watches for when it comes to church-going people and their leaders.

Psychologists say that 80 per cent of our emotional strength is derived from the wearing of masks. It is quite common to find people trying to be what they are not.

They are not comfortable being what they really are, as a result they try to project an image which is not theirs. This situation can be found in people from all walks of life, both in the pagan and Christian world.

For the pagan world, it may find some form of acceptance, but in the Christian world such acts are unthinkable. There are many Christians whose utterances are not compatible with the image they are supposed to project. Their promises are worth zero.

They behave in ways similar to those who are not Christians. They borrow money from their brother Christian and non-Christians with no intention of returning it. They are found in the company of people with highly questionable morals.

These people could have passed off without notice since many non-Christians do the same things. But, when they are church-going Christians or church leaders, the above traits should not be found in them.

My own experience should help to clarify what I am saying here. I stopped smoking when I got saved, but I still kept a very beautiful ‘Benson and Hedges’ ashtray that I loved. I reasoned that any other person who wants to smoke could use the ashtray in my house.

I stopped taking alcohol when I became a Christian but I kept two large beautiful empty bottles of ‘Martel Cognac’ which I used for storing water in the refrigerator.

Even though I stopped drinking alcohol, I could still go to the bars with my friends and buy them beers so long as it was not me drinking.

Sometimes I rationalized that drinking wine was not that bad. I started becoming faithful to my wife, but reasoned that, if another girl wanted my company desperately then I could offer it to them unselfishly.

I believed that behaving badly in church was not acceptable, but under my own roof I could do whatever I liked. I taught young people in the church’s Sunday school, but I had problem disciplining my own children.

Theories like "God hates poor people” or "All people should be able to work” started filling my mind thereby destroying the vaguely benevolent disposition I had before I was saved.

Little did I know that I was living a hypocritical life. I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t. Well, in my case, I got spiritual revelation which made me aware of my condition.

I wondered how many people who looked at me got very discouraged by the split personality I exhibited. I wondered how many more people in the church lived my kind of life.

We may be advising people to refrain from consuming alcohol and yet we are hooked to artifacts depicting the greatness of drinking alcohol. We may rationalize that there is no harm in accompanying our friends to the bar so long as we do not drink ourselves.

All these may sound good, but think of the impact it has on the on-looking public, both pagan and Christians. It sends a very pathetic picture to them. In fact many Christians will leave the church claiming there too many hypocrites.

Jesus was confronted by such groups of people and we can find his admonition in the book of Luke 11:39–40, "Then the Lord said to him ‘Now then you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

You foolish people! Did not the one who made the inside make the outside also?’”

The Pharisees only looked at the inside of a cup, but would not mind what was on the outside. They were hypocrites and Jesus says they were foolish.

It is my prayer that the hypocrites amongst the Christian people will see the light and stop living double lives so they can set an example to others.

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