For the sake of our kids’ faith

I’ve blogged the last two days about hypocrisy and our need to be more authentic, but there is one more detail that demands our attention.

In yesterdays’ blog I mentioned a book entitled Unchristian and the statistic that 85% of young adults believe that Christians are hypocrites – saying one thing but doing another. That is a sobering reality but there is another statistic from the same book that is also disturbing.

Forty-seven percent of young adults inside the church hold the same opinion, that Christians are hypocrites.

As a pastor and father of six children who have been raised in the church this is very alarming. It is one reason why so many young people who grow up in the church end up walking away from church and God after they graduate.

Jesus’ harshest words were directed at the teachers of the law and Pharisees because of this issue of hypocrisy. And according to Jesus, hypocrisy is not just the failure to live up to what we aspire to, we all do that; the real core issue that makes hypocrisy so ugly is giving attention to outward things in an attempt to make people think that you are actually living up to what you aspire to.

The reality is that we aren’t doing as well as we think we are. It’s so easy to recognize hypocrisy in others but miss our own. In Matthew 23 Jesus levels some hard-hitting indictments at the religious leaders and at one point says this:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites – you blind men!

In some ways, these men had to be aware of their hypocrisy. But in other ways, they were not. They were blind to their own sinfulness and hypocrisy. And the same is true of us. Just as there are blind spots when we drive, there are  blind spots when we consider how we are doing in living authentically as God intended.

The solution? Humility of heart that invites others to speak into our lives about those areas we might be blind to. It’s not easy, but it is very possible and absolutely necessary.

For the sake of our kids’ faith, we must pursue greater authenticity!

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Remember, others are watching!

Yesterday I blogged about the term hypocrite and how it was Jesus who took a word used simply to describe actors on a stage and used it as a stinging rebuke against the religious leaders of His day. But is it really that big of a deal?

YES!

It is critical for both those inside the church and those outside the church.

To those inside the church Jesus said…

“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” ~ Matthew 5:20

We are saved by grace, but that is no excuse for living as we please. We are children of God and if our outward behavior doesn’t match up with what we profess to believe about Jesus being our Savior and Lord, then we won’t get to experience heaven. That’s about as serious as it gets!

But this issue of hypocrisy is also critical to those outside the church. A book entitled Unchristian written a few years ago is based on a research study that shows eighty-five percent of unchurched young adults believe Christians to be hypocritical. Eighty-five percent say Christians say one thing, do something else.

Wow! Even if you allow for some misperceptions and drop those percentages by 10 percent you’re still looking at some staggering numbers. No wonder more people aren’t attracted to God’s church.

I’m convinced that part of what attracted people to Jesus was the fact that how He lived matched up with what He taught. A person who lives with that kind of authenticity is not only rare but very appealing.

We have to give ourselves to living more authentically. Not only because we don’t want to miss out on experiencing heaven, but because we don’t want to discourage others who don’t yet have a relationship with God.