In today’s video we are going to answer the question of why should I go to church when it’s just so full of hypocrites. To answer the question, we have to actually start with a more foundational question and that question is: What is hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy comes from a Greek word that was associated with the stage, when an actor would wear a mask and they would play a part and pretend to be someone they’re not. Technically the definition of a hypocrite is someone who is pretending to be something that they’re not, establishing a standard that they’re actually living in opposition to. However in today’s society and in the church, oftentimes when we talk about hypocrites, what we mean is someone who’s just failing to live according to an established standard. If I say that I should not talk negatively about people, gossip or slander, and then I stumble or slip-up or I sin and I talk negatively about somebody, someone might call me a hypocrite. Failing to live according to a projected standard is not hypocrisy. That would be inconsistent, that would be sinful, that might be wrong. Hypocrisy is me stating that I never talk negatively about somebody though I in fact talk negatively about people all the time. It is projecting an image that is fake or fraudulent. Now that we’ve established what hypocrisy is and what it is not, we can return to the initial statement that the church is full of hypocrites and therefore I shouldn’t go.
If you’re actually attending a church or you’ve been to a church that is in fact full of just completely fake people, they’re all pretending to be something they’re not, then that is not a healthy church. But typically what is the case is that people like you and I run into a church where there are just broken individuals and there are people who are striving do the right thing and fail to the right thing, striving not to talk negatively and fail to talk positively and striving to live for Jesus and sometimes sin and sometimes fail. That is why the gospel is so important to true Christianity because the gospel covers that sin. The gospel actually transforms our hearts to become more in step with what Jesus is called to be. So the church is actually a perfect place for all of these broken individuals like yourself and myself. If you have maintained this position that I refuse to go to church because the church is just full of hypocrites, what I would do is I would invite you to be part of the solution to drive home the importance of legitimacy in our walk with Jesus and to be a conduit for actually binding up those who are struggling, sinful or broken.