Authentic Hypocrisy
A Better Choice • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsPeople accuse Christians of being hypocrites; so our behavior should reflect sincerity
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Welcome
Welcome
During the meet-n-greet time, as I'm getting on the stage, black out lights on switchboard (keep house lights up)
Welcome, and thank you for being here.
Connect Card
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We’re excited about some new things happening in the back wing of the building.
Pray
During the meet-n-greet time, black out lights on switchboard (keep house lights up)
Engage
Engage
Think long and hard about how you can do your best to get their attention.
Helicopter search light with Mike Baucum
I grew up in the desert. And, I don’t mean the way Phoenix, Arizona, is surrounded by desert, either. Which still doesn’t make any sense to me. “Hey, guys! This place doesn’t have any water. Let’s build a city!” I don’t think I’ll ever understand it.
Anyway, this is the house I grew up in. The two windows you see here lead to my brother’s and sister’s spacious bedrooms, while my little closet was around the side with a nice view of my neighbor’s backyard, which had a pool, while ours didn’t. Not that I’m bitter, or anything...
Now, if we head out of the cul de sac and look around to the side of the house, you can see the little ditch I used to skate in all summer long. If we keep going just a bit, you can get a look at this desert area that our house backed up to. This area is called a “wash.” Those are useful in Phoenix, because it doesn’t rain very often. But, when it does, it tends to pour. Like cats and dogs. The city, not being designed with rainfall as a primary concern, tends to flood. So, these washes are designed to help alleviate some of that flooding, and provide a route for the water to drain.
My friends and I used to play back there in the wash. All the time. Almost every day. We would do what kids do. We’d dig holes. We’d build tree forts. We’d ride bikes, and build jumps. Really exciting, I know. (Black Screen)
One day, me and my best friend, Mike, were back there after school. You know how it used to be. Once the sun begins to set, and the street lights come on, that’s your cue to go home. Like any 6th graders would, we were taking our sweet time to do just that. There’s not much lighting back there, so it’s getting pretty dark, pretty fast.
Then, we heard it. (Make helicopter noise.) Off in the distance. Then, we heard it a little louder. (Make helicopter noise again, louder.) Getting closer. This helicopter started circling around the wash. At first, we thought it might be a news chopper, so we didn’t pay much attention to it. Before long, though, we saw that it had a spotlight on, and it was searching through the trees, bushes, and the rest of the wash. It was a police helicopter!
I don’t know whether we were too dense or just too naive. But, we didn’t put two and two together, though. It never even dawned on me, until earlier this week, when I was thinking about this story: They were looking for a fugitive! And there we were, two middle school kids, too busy farting around and doing nothing to figure out that we’re in real, actual danger… Ate least we would have made some decent human shields for the guy. Or lady. I don’t discriminate.
Anyway, the helicopter kept circling around. We were ignoring them. They were ignoring us. Until, they weren’t. They kinda circled around in front of us, no spotlight. And then. BAM!! (Un-Blackout all lights on switchboard) They hit us with the spotlight!
But. Don’t worry. Have no fear. I knew what to do. I had seen this on TV before. I put my hands up in the air. At that moment, Mike wasn’t so sure he wanted to be my friend.
After a while, they got bored with us, and left. We headed back to my house. I don’t know if they found whoever they were looking for, but I can bet he was camped out in that area for a while, knowing that he had a couple unaware fall guys right next door.
That spotlight made it crystal clear (painfully clear) the difference between light and dark. You guys have been around the neighborhood long enough to know there’s a difference. Even still, I’d like to give a demonstration that to you know. So, if I can get the crew in the back to turn all the lights down. All the way down. The spotlights and the house lights, too. Then, I’ll get this flashlight on. And, you can see. Really clearly. There’s a big difference between light and dark. If I shine it over here on this side, you all could write a note. On the other side, you’re just out of luck I guess. It’s not perfectly dark in here. It’s not pitch black. But, you can still see well enough: In the dark, light makes a huge difference. But, it doesn’t just have to be a big spotlight like this one. Even if I have a smaller source of light, like this lighter. Even all the way in the back. You can clearly tell that there is a light source somewhere.
That contrast isn’t new, if you’ve been around the Bible for a minute.
As the lights are coming back up (thank you audio/visual team), I want you to turn to each other and answer this one question. It won’t take long, and we’ll sortof collect and compare answers once we’re done. But, here’s the question.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Question: When you think about the difference between light and dark, what one thing comes to mind?
That’s not the only place, either. God is likened or compared to light all over the Old and New Testament. Jesus even told us to be the light of the world.
Tension
Tension
Collect and discuss answers from the audience.
What you’re doing here is bringing up some kind of a problem. The tension you create should make people lean in and give them an opportunity to anticipate the tension being resolved.
I found a video this week, which I think summarizes this difference really well.
Video: Bob Ross, The Joy of Painting, dark and light colors.
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
This contrast isn’t new. Lots of the examples you gave, even the one Bob Ross gave revolves not around things. Stuff. But revolves around life and experiences. You’re no stranger to this, I’m sure. You’ve experience darkness and light in your own life before.
If you’ve been around Jesus (or any faith, for that matter) for any length of time, you’ve also heard, seen, or used dark and light to describe spiritual life. In , it says:
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Now, we’re going to camp out around that verse today. So, if you’ve got your Bible, or phone, or tablet, or scroll, or whatever. Go ahead and crack it open and start heading that direction. The book of 1 John is almost at the very end of the Bible, so you could even start from the back if you wanted to. Right before Revelation, there’s a handful of pretty small books, and 1 John is right in there. Don’t be afraid to use the Table of Contents if you need to. Nothing wrong with that. If you’re using one of the brown Bibles from under a chair, you’ll want to be heading to Page 986.
So, we just read “God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” That’s not the only place in the Bible this imagery comes up. God is compared to or described as light all over the Old and New Testament. Jesus is described as the Light of life. Jesus even told us, his followers, that we are to be the light of the world.
We are too focused on living morally, and not focused enough on God’s grace
And, I think most of us try to take that seriously. We try to be an example to others. To live into our roles as light of the world. We try to bring the message of Jesus Christ in a fresh, new way that could resonate with the times. But, when we do, we are called out as hypocrites. We’re told:
But, when we do, we are called out as hypocrites.
You sound the alarm on the world’s wrong-doing, but you don’t do anything about evil in your midst. If you have read, watched, or looked at any news outlet recently, I’m sure you’ve seen a story about a scandalous pastor somewhere who has been preying on members of the church. Maybe there was even a cover-up surrounding it. Hypocrites!
Predator pastors covered up
Or, we hear:
You can’t tell me how to live my life, while you ignore the junk in your own life. And, people far from Jesus see Christians going off against the evils of abortion or the immorality of the LGBTQ community; and they do that while being blackout drunk. Judge not lest ye be judged. Hypocrites!
Outsiders see people going off against the evils of abortion or the immorality of the LGBTQ community; all while being blackout drunk.
This is a really common accusation about Christians. Or any other religion. In fact, the top definition of “Hypocrisy” in my favorite dictionary, Urban Dictionary of course, uses religion as the example of what hypocrisy means.
The only reliable product of an organized religion is a flock of hypocrites who feel that only *their* hypocrisy is divinely sanctioned. (Urban Dictionary Quote)
This may surprise you, but it’s not just an opinion held by outsiders, either. Many inside the church think and feel the same way. Some of us are sitting in this room thinking that about the people in this church. About the worship band. About me.
We’re only being measured by our own yardstick!
That goes for some of us who are just beginning to dip our toes into this whole Jesus thing. We might like what we’re hearing about God, but we’re not sure if we can trust these Christians that are all around us.
The world is just looking at us through the same lens we look at the world.
Or, some of us who think we have it all figured out. We think we’re the ones living a real, authentic, transparent life. And we try to distance ourselves from others as they’re trying to figure out if they’re really a follower of Jesus, and if that’s going to change the way they live their lives.
Inside this building. And out. From people who have firmly set themselves against Christ. From those who call themselves a friend of God. The label of hypocrite is thrown around all too frequently today. And, it can drive a real wedge between believers. Video: I Hate Christians
Jon Jorgenson Video: I Hate Christians
The truth is, we’re in this together. Whether you have disdain for and look down on the hypocritical, judgmental Christian. Or if you are struggling to figure out how the things you believe have a bearing on the things you do. We are the body of Christ. We wear this same label together. Hypocrite.
So, how did this come to be? And, what can we do about it?
Transition: There’s some wisdom in the Bible a follower of Jesus, by the name of John, wrote down for the believers in his time. It spoke to the struggle they faced with inconsistent Christians, and I think it speaks volumes to the situation we’re in today.
Truth & Application
Truth & Application
Once you’ve engaged the congregation and presented some kind of tension, you can now go to God’s Word in order to resolve the tension. The next section, Application, should happen naturally as you are teaching, and should come to a point after you teach through Scripture.
Context
Context
What we call the “book” of 1 John, started as a letter written to a group of small churches in what is today the country of Turkey. The Apostle Paul, an early leader in the church, had gone all throughout the region, with his friends Barnabas and Silas, sharing the message of Jesus and starting these churches. Like a missionary.
Before long, and with whatever motives, people would come in to these communities and start spreading some false teachings. I guess we use the word “fake news” today, for that kind of thing. These people were teaching two main things that clashed with what Christians believed up to that point:
Jesus didn’t come to earth in a real, tangible body. Weird thing to get hung up on, I know. But that’s how it was. It has roots in older philosophies, and the assumptions this belief was built on are much farther reaching than that one idea. But, for now, that’s the part of it that this letter addresses.
These new teachers claimed they had reached such a high level of spirituality that they were beyond sin. Not like they were totally perfect, but like something that might be sinful for someone of a lesser status wasn’t sinful for the “completely spiritual” person. That just reeks of hypocrisy, doesn’t it? I’m like a 3rd degree black-belt in Jesus, so I can basically get away with anything I want. You still have to play by the rules, but Jesus gave me this cool stamp of approval. So, I’m good.
Eventually, these new ideas came to be so polarizing in the young Christian communities that some believers would leave and start forming new communities around these very unorthodox teachings. A church split. That leaves the people in the original churches scratching their heads. Who was right? Who was wrong? Why did their brothers and sisters abandon the faith they once held in common?
Talk about the specific, docetic false teaching that was going around.
And then John, an eye-witness and an authority on the life and teachings of Jesus, steps in to lay down the law. Kick butt and chew bubble gum. He knows what he’s talking about. He knows what the true message of Jesus is all about. He was there. He was described as the “Disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was part of Jesus’ inner circle of super-duper best buddies. At the last supper, as Jesus and his disciples ate, John was leaning up against Jesus. He knows what he’s talking about.
He’s writing to assure them. Encourage them. They’re on the right side of this thing. They just need to know it. To be comforted.
And, if we’re going to deal with our hypocrisy. And move forward. We need to look at the same struggles John is concerned with.
So, with that out of the way, let’s read together:
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
Pray
Now, it’s easy to miss there. I did when I first read this. But, John writes this passage mostly using two kinds of statements. There are the statements that begin with or “If we claim” that presents one of the arguments of these false teachers. Then, he follows that with a “But if” statement that is essentially his answer to the argument. Really, most of this letter is written with this kind of lie-truth, lie-truth. Back and forth. Like a presidential debate, only more productive.
Really, most of this letter is written with this kind of
He begins addressing, point for point, the false teachings that were spreading through the area.
Face The Facts
Face The Facts
, ,
If we say we have fellowship but live in darkness...
If we say we have fellowship but live in darkness...
Now, it’s easy to miss there. I did, too, when I first read this.
The first one has to do with darkness.
Hook
Illustration: When I was little, my brother, Eric, and I used to share a room. While I was on the bottom bunk (because I was the little brother, and wasn’t cool enough to get the top bunk), I would have trouble falling asleep, and I would make shadow puppets on the walls. Scared him to death. I had a super-power!
John writes, in verse 6:
Book
1 John 1:6
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
Look
The trouble-makers John is addressing here apparently are trying to claim they have some kind of super-smart, spiritual fellowship with God, maybe even claiming that they work beside God to spread his message. As John puts it, the core problem is that they would claim to have this awesome fellowship with God, but they would act in such a way that you wouldn’t believe them in a million years.
See, they separated flesh and spirit, flesh being evil, and spirit being good. Now, it makes a little more sense that they couldn’t have a Jesus who was attached to a real, fleshly (and therefore evil) body. So, they would say their spirit had this fellowship with God, this tight-knit bond. All the while, their body was free to do whatever it pleased.
We Live In Darkness
Because of this inconsistency in their words and actions, John calls them out as the liars they are. They are lying about their fellowship with God. This God, who is the very light of the world, is totally separate from dark. If they’re walking around in the darkness, there’s no way for them to honestly say they’re keeping up this close relationship with God. Their life displayed something very different.
They are lying about their fellowship with God. This God, who is the very light of the world, is totally seperate from dark. If they’re walking around in the darkness, there’s no way for them to honestly say they’re keeping up this close relationship with God while their life displayed something very different.
Then, he says they were not practicing the truth. Literally “are not doing the truth.” They weren’t only lying with their words. They were lying by their actions. Their lives and behavior didn’t reflect those of a follower of Jesus. Both their words, and their lives were a lie. Weren’t practicing the truth.
When John says truth here, it’s easy for us to think about our logical view of true and false. Or statements we can make that relate to reality or facts. For John, when we look at the way he uses the word “truth,” it’s clear that the truth has everything to do with Jesus. For his readers, truth wasn’t something they could think or reason their way to. Instead, it was something (or someone, rather) to have faith in, to submit to, and live accordingly. The actions of these false teachers betrayed that they weren’t living in truth. They weren’t living in Christ. Instead, they were living in darkness.
We do not practice the truth
Took
We fall into the same traps, too.
We Live In Darkness
We have those areas of our lives that we choose to keep in darkness. We have those parts of our heart that we refuse to let Jesus get a hold of. All the while, we say that Jesus is the leader of our lives. But, our actions betray us. And, stubbornly, we choose to journey on like that. Trying to live in the truth and the light, but with some of the bulbs burnt out.
When we knowingly, willfully, and intentionally choose to keep some parts of our lives in darkness, we earn the label hypocrite. Our words, and our actions, aren’t doing the truth. We’re lying.
Transition: Sometimes, while that’s happening, we’ll hope that nobody notices us. That maybe, if we can pretend for long enough, we won’t be called on the carpet. Other times, it goes beyond just hiding in the shadows, hoping we won’t be noticed.
We do not practice the truth
If we claim we have no(t) sin(ned)...
If we claim we have no(t) sin(ned)...
Transition: Most of the time, while that’s happening, we hope and even pray that nobody notices us. That maybe, if we can pretend for long enough, we won’t be called out on the carpet. Other times, it goes beyond just hiding in the shadows, hoping we won’t be noticed.
Hook
Illustration: I’m sure you’ve seen these Guy Fawkes masks before. They’re used a lot by protesters to conceal their identity, and rally behind a common goal. They’ve been particularly tied to the group known as Anonymous, since about 2008, when Anonymous and the Church of Scientology entered into an ongoing feud. Behind the mask, behind a keyboard for some, they are anonymous. They can be anybody they want to. They can be nobody if they want to.
Took
Verses 8 and 10 of what we’ve read, really repeat the same idea. John says in verse 8:
Something
Book
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
And, then in verse 10:
If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Look
To claim we have no sin makes God out to be a liar, and makes Jesus sacrifice worthless to us.
The false teachers claimed to be without sin. Like we said before, they’re separating out flesh from spirit. They’re saying, “Sure, my flesh may sin, but that doesn’t really count. My spirit is fine.” They’re rationalizing the sin they’re living in, and trying to downplay it. They’re claiming that it’s not even sin, now. John says a few things about them, because of that claim.
He writes they were only fooling themselves. Have you ever tried to convince yourself of something? It can be hard to do, sometimes. They had convinced themselves, through their fancy book-learning, that they were without sin. That would have taken some mental gymnastics. In the end, though, they were just deceiving themselves. Not just that, but they were calling God a liar. God has made it known, in more ways than one, that man is sinful. In all honesty, he didn’t actually have to tell us that, we know it from firsthand experience that we are riddled with sin. Can a preacher get an Amen!? Now, they’re denying that. They’re denying what God has said and what God has done.
We call God a liar
Then he says they’re not living in the truth. This truth that is summed up by Jesus. This truth that they were not acting on. This truth that is the opposite of darkness. Not only are their actions not truthful. Their lives, their existence wasn’t in this truth. They were living completely separate from Jesus. And his light. And his truth. What’s more, they’re showing that Jesus, and his truth, and his word, are not welcome. There’s no room for it in their heart.
When it’s all boiled down, this claim that they were without sin was jsut an act. The only thing they were accomplishing with that was lying to themselves, and demonstrating how far from Jesus they actually were. But, they didn’t give up. They kept pretending like everything was fine, but it was just a facade they wore on the outside. A mask.
Took
We do not practice the truth
We show his word has no place in our hearts
We show his word has no place in our hearts
And, friends, we do that, too.
Took
We Live With Masks On
We live with a pet sin that we have convinced ourselves isn’t. If you repeat a lie enough times, with enough volume, eventually you’ll start to believe it.
We try to convince others that everything is fine. That the mask on the outside reflects the reality on the inside. But, it’s just an act.
Jesus never did take too kindly to these types of people. In one intense argument with the Pharisees, Jesus lets us know exactly how he feels about them. In , we read:
Jesus is railing against the Pharisees and religious leaders.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
We’re not living in the truth.
We call God a liar
Some highlights
This “everything is fine as long as it looks fine on the outside” mentality is the precise problem with the Pharisees. And, it’s the precise problem with our masks, too.
We show his word has no place in our hearts
In this book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey shares stories and experiences from both believers and nonbelievers that demonstrate, exemplify, and make you feel what grace really is. Toward the end, he writes:
Having spent time around “sinners” and also around purported “saints,” I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus. (What’s So Amazing About Grace?, pg 274)
That’s us, too. The ones who are supposed to be following God. The ones who were supposed to listen and act on what Jesus says. The ones who are supposed to show others what this life with God is like.
We are the ones who arrested Jesus, and nailed him to the cross. All the while, wearing our masks. Pretending like we don’t have this crippling disease. When we live with our masks on, we earn the label of hypocrite. And, we wear it well.
Make A Change
Make A Change
,
But if we are living in the light...
But if we are living in the light...
Transition: Needed
Hook
Illustration: Real vs. Knock-off fidget cube (if I can find one)
Book
But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Look
What does “living in the light” look like?
We have fellowship with each other
We are cleansed from all sin
Living in the light means living in God. Living in his ways. Living in his love.
Took
Commit To Being Authentic
We have fellowship with each other
Living in the light means living in God. Living in his ways. Living in his love.
This is all about authenticity. With God. With others.
We are cleansed from all sin
Transition: Needed
But if we confess our sins...
But if we confess our sins...
Something
Hook
The first step of any 12 step program is to admit that a problem exists.
Opening scene from Wreck-It Ralph
In the film, Ralph is wrestling with this inner conflict between the bad guy inside him, and the good guy inside him.
As Christians, we face the same dilemma. We want to follow Jesus, we want to be more like him, yet we fail. Again and again. Most of the time, like the other bad guys at Bad-Anon, we want to dismiss those sins, or ignore that they exist. Convince ourselves that everything is just fine, and put on a shiny new mask and walk around like our poop doesn’t stink.
Book
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Look
Confession in the NT (doesn’t come up often) was a public thing, not just between an individual and God.
Even in the Didache, an ancient document. A “manual” of sorts from the time of primitive Christianity (like, maybe even while Paul was still alive doing his thing). The name means “The Teaching.” It’s not inspired, so it doesn’t have the same level of authority as the Bible does. But, it can give us a glimpse into how the infant communities of Jesus-followers lived out their faith.
12Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy, and everything that is not pleasing to the Lord. 13Thou shalt never forsake the commandments of the Lord; but shalt keep those things which thou hast received, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. 14In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life.
Fun fact, you know the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:
Then, what comes next?
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
That part’s not in the Bible. It first showed up in the Didache. The more you know...
Anyway, the Didache mentions confession, and has this to say about it:
12 Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy, and everything that is not pleasing to the Lord. 13 Thou shalt never forsake the commandments of the Lord; but shalt keep those things which thou hast received, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. 14 In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. (Didache 4.12-14)
He forgives our sins (because he is faithful and just)
He cleanses us from all wickedness
Took
We are all sinful. Not a surprise. You would have to be the Mad Hatter to try and convince yourself (much less anybody else) that you are without sin.
To claim we have no sin makes God out to be a liar, and makes Jesus sacrifice worthless to us.
Commit To Being Transparent
This really comes down to transparency. Being honest. Humble. Admitting when you’ve made a mistake. Taking the fall when you’re to blame.
Confess your sins to yourself
You have to be honest with yourself. This requires humility.
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
He forgives our sins (because he is faithful and just)
Confess your sins to God
Maybe
He will forgive us. He already has.
He cleanses us from all wickedness
Confess your sins to others
Sometimes, we need to come clean with somebody we’ve sinned against. Ask them for forgiveness.
Transition: Here’s the deal, though: We can’t make a change on our own. We can’t do much of anything under our own power. Much less, work hard to have a perfectly consistent set of beliefs and practices. Root out all of our hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of others, completely with our own strength, right? No. That’s why this last part John includes is so important. In order to do anything about our own hypocrisy, we have to lean on Jesus. We have to depend on him to make this happen. Not us.
Lean On Jesus
Lean On Jesus
Now, if I were a betting man, I think I could safely bet that nobody’s surprised any by this. I’ll get very little pushback from you with all this. “Sure thing. Everyone’s a sinner. We’re all hypocritical on some things. We should work to change that.” In fact, that’s even true of people outside of the church. Everybody is a hypocrite. Everybody has some belief that doesn’t always match up with their actions.
Hook
Hook
As true as that may be, that doesn’t make our hypocrisy right or acceptable. Neither does it excuse us from taking responsibility. To be honest, confronting our sin and admitting that it exists only gets us part of the way there, anyway.
As true as that may be, that doesn’t make our hypocrisy right or acceptable. Neither does it excuse us from taking responsibility. To be honest, confronting our sin and admitting that it exists only gets us part of the way there, anyway.
Quote from unChristian:
Quote from unChristian:
Illustration Needed
We cannot simply dismiss the criticism of hypocrisy by saying, “Christians are not perfect; they are sinners just like anyone else.” … That’s just half the problem … It’s not just our lifestyles that have gotten us in trouble; it’s the very way in which we convey the priorities of being a Christian. The most common message people hear from us is that Christianity is a religion of rules and regulations. They think of us as hypocritical because they are measuring us by our own standards. (unChristian, pg. 48)
We cannot simply dismiss the criticism of hypocrisy by saying, “Christians are not perfect; they are sinners just like anyone else.” … That’s just half the problem … It’s not just our lifestyles that have gotten us in trouble; it’s the very way in which we convey the priorities of being a Christian. The most common message people hear from us is that Christianity is a religion of rules and regulations. They think of us as hypocritical because they are measuring us by our own standards. (unChristian, pg. 48)
We try to be the example for the world. We try to teach the world how Jesus would have us behave, yet, we
We’re only being measured by our own standards! The world is just looking at us through the same lens we look at the world. We look at ourselves.
The world is just looking at us through the same lens we look at the world.
It’s these mixed up priorities, I think, that are at the very heart and soul of this accusation of hypocrisy. We focus more on doing the right things, not doing the wrong things, going to church, keeping track of how many times I prayed this… year?!, not cussing, not gambling, not drinking (or too much), “uh-oh that tray is being passed, I better get my checkbook ready,” I should read my Bible, let’s control our temper. On and on the list goes…
We live our faith as if it’s a checklist. The world sees that. They see that’s where our priorities are. Where our focus is.
Book
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
1 John
Look
Try not to sin. We don’t get a pass. We need to constantly strive for perfection. But that’s not what our faith is primarily about. We think in terms of sinning less, and pretty soon we come to equate our faith in God with the pursuit of less sin.
Jesus is our advocate in heaven.
But we can’t do it under our own power.
Jesus is our advocate in heaven. He’s already has atoned for our sins.
We have been set free from that.
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
His grace is available to everybody. We think of ourselves as this special few that have what it takes to follow Jesus, and there’s a dangerous assumption in that line of thinking.
One of the fascinating outcomes of this mindset is reflected in Christians’ stereotypes of outsiders. Our research shows that Christians believe the primary reason outsiders have rejected Christ is that they cannot handle the rigorous standards of following Christ. There is a nuance here that allows Christians to feel like they’re better than other people, more capable of being holy and sinless. We rationalize that outsiders don’t want to become Christ followers because they can’t really cut it. (unChristian, pg 51)
Took
Something
Jesus Is Our Advocate
Let Your Light Shine
Our faith is more than following the rules
We are too focused on living morally, and not focused enough on God’s grace
Hook
Our faith is available to all
Let Him Forgive Your Sins
Opening scene from Wreck-It Ralph
We don’t need to earn our salvation. Or earn our way into God’s good graces. We have been set free from that.
One of the fascinating outcomes of this mindset is reflected in Christians’ stereotypes of outsiders. Our research shows that Christians believe the primary reason outsiders have rejected Christ is that they cannot handle the rigorous standards of following Christ. There is a nuance here that allows Christians to feel like they’re better than other people, more capable of being holy and sinless. We rationalize that outsiders don’t want to become Christ followers because they can’t really cut it. (unChristian, pg 51)
Let Him Transform Your Heart
In the film, Ralph is wrestling with this inner conflict between the bad guy inside him, and the good guy inside him.
As Christians, we face the same dilemma. We want to follow Jesus, we want to be more like him, yet we fail. Again and again. Most of the time, like the other bad guys at Bad-Anon, we want to dismiss those sins, or ignore that they exist. Convince ourselves that everything is just fine, and put on a shiny new mask and walk around like our poop doesn’t stink.
Our faith is measured by our own yardstick
Book
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
We want to keep trying to follow the rules, and measure how well we’re doing at following Jesus. This isn’t something we can snap out of so easily.
Look
This requires humility ()
You would have to be the Mad Hatter to try and convince yourself (much less anybody else) that you are without sin.
To claim we have no sin makes God out to be a liar, and makes Jesus sacrifice worthless to us.
Took
To Yourself
To God
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
To God
To Others
Nobody’s suprised by this. I’ll get very little pushback from you here. “Sure thing. Everyone’s a sinner.” In fact, that’s even true of people outside of the church. Everybody is a hypocrite. Everybody has some belief that doesn’t always match up with their actions.
As true as that may be, that doesn’t make our hypocrisy right or acceptable. Neither does it excuse us from taking responsibility.
To be honest, confronting our sin and admitting that it exists only gets us part of the way there.
Lean On Jesus’ Work
Lean On Jesus’ Work
Look
As true as that may be, that doesn’t make our hypocrisy right or acceptable. Neither does it excuse us from taking responsibility. To be honest, confronting our sin and admitting that it exists only gets us part of the way there, anyway.
To be honest, confronting our sin and admitting that it exists only gets us part of the way there.
Quote from unChristian:
We cannot simply dismiss the criticism of hypocrisy by saying, “Christians are not perfect; they are sinners just like anyone else.” … That’s just half the problem … It’s not just our lifestyles that have gotten us in trouble; it’s the very way in which we convey the priorities of being a Christian. The most common message people hear from us is that Christianity is a religion of rules and regulations. They think of us as hypocritical because they are measuring us by our own standards. (unChristian, pg. 48)
Book
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
Look
Took
The Holy Spirit is our advocate here on earth.
Galatians 5:1-
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
We are
The Holy Spirit is our advocate here on earth.
The Holy Spirit is our advocate here on earth.
But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
Took
We are too focused on living morally, and not focused enough on God’s grace
Our faith is available to all
We are being measured by our own standard
We think of ourselves as this special few that have what it takes to follow Jesus, and there’s a dangerous assumption in that line of thinking.
One of the fascinating outcomes of this mindset is reflected in Christians’ stereotypes of outsiders. Our research shows that Christians believe the primary reason outsiders have rejected Christ is that they cannot handle the rigorous standards of following Christ. There is a nuance here that allows Christians to feel like they’re better than other people, more capable of being holy and sinless. We rationalize that outsiders don’t want to become Christ followers because they can’t really cut it. (unChristian, pg 51)
Our faith is measured by our own yardstick
The world is just looking at us through the same lens we look at the world.
Our faith is
Hook
Illustration Needed
Book
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!
“Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’
“But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?
“Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Matthew 23:25-28
Look
Some highlights
This “everything is fine on the outside” is exactly what the problem is with the Pharisees.
Quote from What’s So Amazing About Grace?
Having spent time around "sinners" and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus. (What’s So Amazing About Grace?, pg 274)
Took
Authentic love is not a show
v1-7
Authentic love opens the door to others
v13-14
Authentic love comes from a transformed heart
v25-28
Inspiration
Inspiration
This is the time where you can ask great questions. Could be called “reflection.”
Key Thought: People accuse Christians of being hypocrites; so our behavior should reflect sincerity
Bottom Line: When they shout hypocrite, we { shout yes, turn on the lights, respond with action, live with authentic love, respond with authenticity, }
Bottom Line: When we hear hypocrite, we respond with authenticity.
Action
Action
Think through what you want them to do in light of your message and spell it out plainly to them.
Anonymous text message confession??