I don’t know how many times I heard from someone that the reason they don’t go to church is because all religious people are hypocrites. To be honest there’s a lot of truth in this statement.
The term hypocrite means believes one way and practices or acts another way. Based on that definition, I guess we could all say that there are times when we are hypocritical. Jesus commands us to honor him with all of our words, thoughts and actions. None of us have ever lived up to those demands. Therefore, all of us have acted contrary to what we said we believe.
I think it may help people who don’t go to church if we were just honest and said, “Yup, I’ve been a hypocrite before.” Maybe it would disarm them if we just admitted that none of us are perfect.
We are all hypocrites
I also want to ask my unchurched friends if they really expect church people to act perfectly. You see, that’s not what the Bible teaches about religious people. The book of Hebrews says that even the most religious people in ancient Israel, the high priest, didn’t always live a perfect, innocent, holy life. In making this statement, Hebrews is reminding us of our need for a perfect high priest.
Since we are not perfect, we need someone who has the power to make us perfect. No Priest, Pastor, Imam, Rabbi can do that for us. Because none of them are perfect themselves they are not able to make us perfect. What we need, is a perfect priest. Hebrews chapter 7 tells us only Jesus is that perfect high priest.
I guess I would really want my unchurched friends to come to my church. That way they would see that I’m not a perfect pastor, and they’re not a perfect person. Therefore, we all need a perfect priest. Therefore, we all need Jesus- the only person who ever lived who wasn’t a hypocrite.
