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Holy Hypocrisy

March 12, 2023

It is by consensus the number one reason people don’t come to church, criticize the church, and have no use for the church. Every church has hypocrites. Frankly, that shouldn’t really be surprising. The movement that Jesus started produced many hypocrites. As a matter of fact, being the largest religion in the world, Christianity has probably produced more hypocrites than any other movement in history. The word “hypocrites” is used seventeen times in the New Testament and every time it is used by Jesus. Nobody used it or talked about it as much as he did, who first critiqued religious hypocrisy in a way that shaped the way we look at it and made it such a negative term. In the Sermon on the Mount, He dealt with this issue of hypocrisy head-on and shared with his disciples then and his followers now how to avoid holy hypocrisy. If we are going to break down barriers and build bridges to unbelievers and especially the next generation, Jesus tells us three things we have to do.

Topics: Hypocrisy

In this series

Belief Barriers

What are some of the most common reasons why people reject Christianity? You've probably thought of hypocrisy, judgmentalism, or maybe how much bad there is in the world. Join Dr. James Merritt as he discusses common barriers to belief in God and how to overcome these barriers and win others to Christ.

Bible Reference

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,