Posted by
Bob Siegel on Monday, July 28, 2008 8:20:41 PM
“The thing that keeps me from considering Christianity is
the hypocrisy of the church. From the Crusades, to the Inquisition, to
Tele-Evangelists always asking for money, I’m just plain turned off!”
If hypocrisy is your concern, it may surprise you to learn
that you actually have something in common with Jesus, for Jesus hated
religious hypocrisy and preached against it quite often.
“Not everyone who says to be
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom
of Heaven, but only he who does the
will of my Father who is in Heaven. Many
will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and
in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them
plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me
you evildoers’” (Matt. 7:21-23).
This interesting discourse, given early in Jesus’ ministry,
proved to be very prophetic. Therefore,
hypocrisy in the church, while sad, is not a phenomenon, which contradicts the
words of Christ, for He not only spoke of hypocrisy but hypocrisy in his own
name! Try to imagine some mere man,
ambitious, anxious to start a following, gathering people together before
things even get rolling and saying: “Can
I have your attention? I just want you
to know that many of you who call yourselves my followers will be cast into
Hell by me personally. Just thought you
should know.” Not very likely. Such chilling honesty suggests from the
onset that there is more to Jesus than meets the eye. He is making it clear that regardless of
terminology or sworn allegiance, true Christians have two minimum qualities: 1)
A personal relationship with God. The
term know
in Greek (Prognosko)
referred to an intimate knowledge. B) An
obedience to God that follows this relationship. Although
elsewhere in scripture it is made clear
that sinless perfection cannot be obtained in this life (I John 1:8),
Jesus is
nevertheless emphasizing that true followers are at least on God’s path
and His
words here in Matthew let us in on a little secret: Those who
aren’t truly on the road with God
can perform mighty religious deeds, even supernatural ones.
This is a scary and sobering thought. Still, we conclude that
religious hypocrisy
is not a genuine reason with which to reject the real Jesus and His
true
teachings.
NOTE: For a fuller discussion
of this topic, see my book, I’d Like To Believe In Jesus, But…
Other blogs about Christianity from Bob Siegel:
Does
Jesus Belong on the College Campus?
Try
To Follow This Logic: If God Exists, God is Real.
Does the Bible Really Speak About the Future?
What is the Unforgivable Sin and How Do I Know If I've
Committed It?
Does The Bible Teach An Age of Accountability?
Was Jesus Gay?
How Should We Pray For Healing?
Is The DaVinci Code Something to be Taken Seriously?
How Does One Become a Christian?
My Brief Time In the Occult
How Do We Know Which Manuscript Copies Truly Belong In The
Bible?
Does The Bible Teach That God Is Everything or that God Created
Everything?
Was Jesus A False Prophet?
Why Are There Different Versions of the Bible?
Three Questions That Test Your Friend's Opinions
Subsiding All The Passion Over "The Passion"
Cherry Picking Our Doctrines
St. Bob's Epistle To The Calvinists
Oh, That Horrible Christianity!
Was Judas Forgiven?
Oh Yeah? Well David Did Alot of Stupid Things
If You Don't Like Her, Take It Up With Jesus
Calling God Allah: What's In A Name?
How To Cause A Muslim Freudian Slip
Behavior Not Even A Christian Apologist Can Defend
Evidently Christians Don't Hold A Monopoly On Stupidity
I'm Not Doing It For the Warthog and the Pine Cone
Is Persecution Good For The Church?
A Pro-Choice Christmas Card?
The No Longer Sacred Santa
Can A Christian Be Pragmatic?
Now Kids, Keep The Name of the Holiday a Secret
Are Christian Ministers Just In It For The Money?
Christianity, Judaism and Islam: Comparison
Is Mormonism Really a Cult? Let's Finally Settle This Once and
For All
How a Reformed Jew Became an Evangelical Christian Part One
Are Christians Expected to Keep the Sabbath?
If The Gospel Was Fake, This Would Have Been A Really Dumb
Thing To Include
Did Jesus Really Claim To Be God?
Did Jesus Really Claim to be The Messiah?
The Prayer Game
Can The Existence of God Be Proven?
Can't I Accept Christ On My Deathbed?
The Day God Gave Me One Hundred Dollars (And Believe Me; I
didn't Deserve It)
Is Tithing Really Biblical?
The Day A Scholar Said Scholars Aren't Scholarly
Of course the Trinity is Impossible! Haven't You Ever Studied
Math?
Jesus Didn't Rise! Wait Until You Hear How They Decided
Did Jesus Fulfill Bible Prophecy? Isaiah 53
Was
Jesus The Promised Messiah? Daniel 9
Does
God Have a Sense of Humor?
He
Told Me My Prayer Was Not A Valid Prayer
Scripture
taken from THE HOLY BIBLE
New
International Version NIV
Copyright 1973, 1979, 1984 by International Bible
Society
Used
by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
All rights reserved.