Scripture: Matthew 23:13-26
Some people are not Christians today not because they have never met a Christian, but because they have met Christians! They see that Christians seem to be no different than anyone else. In fact, there is statistically no difference between people who claim to be Christians and those who claim not to be Christians when it comes to lifestyle activities like gambling, visiting pornographic websites, taking something that didn’t belong to them, saying mean things behind someone’s back, having a physical fight or abusing someone, using illegal drugs, and consuming enough alcohol to be considered legally drunk. (This list that I condensed is from the book The Problem of God by Mark Clark.) If Christianity is supposed to help make you a better person, it is obviously not working.
In the passage we are looking at today, Matthew records some strong words that Jesus had towards the religious leaders of his day, the Pharisees. Jesus calls these men hypocrites. The word “hypocrite” is a transliteration of the Greek word that refers to an actor who wears a mask. Jesus was telling the Pharisees in many different ways that what they do on the outside might look good, but they were not being good on the inside. Not only this, but because of all the rules they had made up, they made it impossible to actually follow the important parts of the law, they were making it impossible for people to actually know God. They were not concerned about people knowing and following God, they were more concerned about people knowing and following their rules.
Have you ever met someone like this? Someone who was more concerned about you following their rules than anything else. Maybe, if you are honest, you are like this. You avoid people because they don’t live up to your standard of living. You assume that these people are not Christians because of what it seems like they are doing in their life. You assume that people far from God are not interested in the things of God while you think you’re heading down the right path.
Let’s not get so concerned about doing all the right things that we forget about the “important aspects of the law – justice, mercy, and faith,” as Jesus told the Pharisees. Let’s stop trying to just decide whether it is ok to watch this movie or not and instead show mercy to those who do. Let’s stop just trying to debate why people are the way they are and stand up for their rights and for their justice. And let’s stop just trying to build safe Christian subcultures when God calls us to a life of faith.
Just because the church is filled with hypocrites doesn’t mean it’s not true. Christianity is not a religion about becoming a better person. Christianity is about believing in the perfect person, Jesus. Christians believe in Jesus because they realize that they are sinners in need of forgiveness and a savior. If you are looking to Christians or the church to set the perfect example of how to live before you believe, you will never believe. But turn your attention to Jesus and you will see someone who is worthy of your trust and imitation. You will see someone who was not a hypocrite and was perfect.