One of societies’ greatest criticisms of Christians today is that we are hypocrites. Webster defines a hypocrite as: “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” This word is often used with regard to religious beliefs and portrays a person who says one thing but does another. As we learned in our sermon series about The Holy Spirit, True Believers are indwelled with The Spirit and we are exhorted to walk in The Spirit which means that we allow HIM to control our lives. The more we mature spiritually and follow HIS lead in our lives, the less we will succumb to the temptations of the world which allows us to be seen as hypocrites. While we will never be “spiritually perfect” in this life, we must strive to daily grow in spiritual maturity and focus our thoughts and actions on becoming more Christ-like.
If you are interested is seeing true hypocrisy in action, I invite you to attend our Wednesday evening study on the roots of Christianity in America. Last night we learned that the Supreme Court of the United States, who has ruled that the Ten Commandments should not be displayed in public buildings, has several pictures, engravings, and other facsimiles of the Ten Commandments inside the court room. As you walk into the National Archives building which hosts the country’s most sacred documents (e.g., the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, etc.), if you will look down at the floor upon which you stand you will see the Ten Commandments inlaid on the floor. The Capitol building which houses the Congress is filled with statues of preachers holding Bibles and paintings of Christian scenes such as the baptism of Pocahontas. These are all just a few examples of how far afield our country has gone from our Christian roots. In this area it seems like our country’s governance is more hypocrisy in action than democracy in action.
Do not let yourselves be deceived by what you may hear in the “news” or be taught in school – if you want to know history, go look at the original documents written at the time. The same holds true for your faith – go back and look at what the Bible says. As Paul told us, be a Berean!
-Pastor Dave Jones