No one likes being around a hypocrite, so who could blame a person for not wanting to go to a church that is “full of hypocrites”? Regardless of how true this charge may be, it makes a poor excuse for not to becoming a Christian and assembling with God’s people. We looked at three excuses in the last post and will consider three more in this one.
Fourth, Jesus did not use this excuse. Many of the Jewish leaders were hypocrites (Matthew 15:7, 23:3-5, Luke 12:1), but that did not keep Jesus from rebuking them. He did what was right and obeyed His Father in spite of the presence of hypocrites. In doing so, He set the proper example for us to follow.
Fifth, Jesus knew that impostors would claim to be a part of His kingdom. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus spoke of an enemy sowing tares in a man’s wheat field. When the tares were discovered, the master ordered that the wheat and tares be allowed to grow together. At the harvest they would be separated (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). Hypocrites will spend eternity in hell, but so will everyone who refuses to obey the gospel. I would rather go to church with hypocrites than go to hell with them.
Sixth, where is the consistency? Hypocrites can be found everywhere, yet will the presence of hypocrites keep one from going to work, school, the grocery store, the bank, the hospital or a sporting event? Is the church the only place that hypocrites can be found? No! Yet it is the one place that our critic does not want to be found. Hypocrisy is a terrible sin, but it is an even worse excuse for not becoming a Christian.
Kyle Campbell
