We’re in full election mode with the Australian Federal election looming this coming Saturday (18th May 2019). During the campaign, one of the favourite words seems to have been “hypocrite.” The Coalition called Labor “hypocritical.” Others called the Coalition “hypocrites.” Then the United Australia Party sent unsolicited political text messages to announce a ban on unsolicited political texts — is this hypocritical, ironic, or both?!
Hypocrisy also frustrates the church. I’ve had an increasing number of conversations with people who do not attend church, or no longer attend church, because they want nothing to do with a group of people who — in their view — say one thing, but do another thing. A recent survey in America found that 85% of unchurched young adults believe Christians to be hypocritical. 47% of young adults inside the church say the same thing.[1]
To add to this here in Australia, we’ve had the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The church was seen as a safe place. And yet, as has been uncovered, the church has wronged many children. These vulnerable children have suffered at the hands of those they who were supposed to protect and help them. The church was saying one thing, but doing another.
All this leads us to the good question: Isn’t the church full of hypocrites? Before we try to find a path forward, it’s helpful to understand this word ‘hypocrite’ a little more. It’s actually a Greek word from the theatre. ‘Hypocrites’ were stage actors who would wear a mask. For example, an actor might play a king in act 1, change masks, then play a servant in act 2. So, literally, a hypocrite is one who wears a mask that hides who they are.
Until Jesus’ time the word was benign, merely describing the actor. However, it’s been suggested Jesus changed the meaning of the word, adding a sting it previously didn’t carry. Jesus says, “Woe to you hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:25). He then gives some examples. One of the examples is a tomb: a hypocrite is like a tomb that’s washed white and made to look beautiful on the outside, when actually it’s a tomb, full of death and decay on the inside. The other example is a cup or dish. Jesus says, “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew 23:25–26). A hypocrite is like a cup that’s trying to pass itself off as clean, when it’s actually dirty inside.
Jesus is saying two important things here. First, just like a cup or tomb, you have an inside and an outside. This is an important insight into what it means to be human. There is a public ‘me.’ This is the ‘me’ that others see. We often spend time to manage the ‘me’ that we project to others. This is the outside. Then there is the private ‘me.’ This is the ‘me’ that only I know about. My private thoughts. My ‘heart.’ This is the inside. Our Old Testament reading suggests the same: ‘The LORD says, “These people … honour me with their lips (outside), but their hearts (inside) are far from me”’ (Isaiah 29:13). Second, Jesus says God is interested with the inside first. Why? If the inside is clean, then the outside will be clean. If we desire to do good in our hearts, then this will flow to our outside, and we’ll do outwardly the things we desire inside.
So, is the church full of hypocrites? There’s two ways to answer this.
First, very simply, yes, because we are all hypocrites. We strive to be clean, but our insides are dirty, our hearts corrupt. Just as a coffee cup becomes dirty every day, so too our inner self gets dirty. We need constant cleaning, daily washing. Lutherans often emphasise the gift we have in returning to our baptism every day. Every morning or evening, we can remember our baptism and be washed clean, fresh, ready for the day. Because we keep getting dirty, unfortunately some within the church have perpetrated terrible crimes that are not consistent with a clean heart. So we cry out, “Father, forgive us.”
However, a second, more complex answer, wonders if there’s a misunderstanding behind the question. It’s often wrongly thought that being a Christian is about being a good person (as determined by outward actions). Therefore, as soon as a Christian does a bad outward action, it’s concluded the church is hypocritical. The issue is that Christianity is not about being a good person. Christianity is not primarily about doing good outward actions. The crux of the Christian faith is that no one is clean on the inside or the outside, except Jesus. The Christian message is that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, all of us dirty cups are being washed. This naturally leads to outward actions that reflect our new inner selves.
We can illustrate this by using the kitchen sink. Most homes have a system where one side of the sink is for dirty dishes, and the other side for clean dishes. Imagine someone comes to the sink and gets the sides confused. They pick up a dirty cup thinking it’s from the clean side. They can easily become frustrated that the cup wasn’t clean as they were expecting. They say, “I don’t want anything to do with this sink.” The reality is that we’re all on the dirty side. And Jesus is in the middle of doing the dishes. He’s in the process of washing and cleaning us. At the end of time, all the dishes will be cleaned and neatly stacked. But until then, it’s a mess, a work in progress. If you pick up a cup, expecting it to be clean, you’ll be disappointed. (This is certainly not intended as an excuse for the horrible crimes the church has been involved in. But it is a way to understand.)
So what do we do with this? What does it mean?
Consider the masks you wear. Remember that hypocrites were stage actors wearing a mask. Take some time to ask the tough question: “What mask, or masks, do I wear?” Are you hiding a tomb of dead bones on your inside? Are your lips saying one thing, but your heart desiring something else?
Take your masks off. God wants your outside to be in harmony with your inside. Let whatever is happening inside be reflected on your outside. Be honest and authentic. It might run counter to logic, but unchurched people are more likely to be drawn to authentic broken people like them, than pretenders who project that they have it all together on the outside but are really a broken mess on the inside. This is hard. It makes you vulnerable. The LCA has recently done this by acknowledging the abuse and hurt caused within our institution. Last year it was announced the LCA has joined the Child Sexual Abuse National Redress Scheme, which acknowledges the hurt caused and seeks to support those who have experienced abuse in our church.
Let Jesus clean you inside and out. God doesn’t want your outward actions without your heart. Likewise, God doesn’t want your heart without any outward actions. He wants all of you, inside and out. As the writer to the Hebrews says, ‘Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’ (Hebrews 10:22).
Let God use you for his purpose. A cup or dish is supposed to be used. It’s supposed to be filled. You are filled with Jesus’ Spirit. You carry him around inside you and bring him to others as you go around day to day. This week, keep your eye out for where and how God is using you. Who are you carrying his Holy Spirit to?
Aside: We’ve covered some heavy topics here. If this has uncovered hurt and you need someone to talk to, please feel free to contact me.
The following video sums up our topic, using a musical analogy: https://www.publicchristianity.org/how-to-judge-the-church/
Heavenly Father: through Jesus Christ, sprinkle our hearts clean and wash our bodies pure. Make us presentable, inside and out.
[1] John Ortberg, 2012, ‘Who is this man?’, Zondervan.
