Me:  Prodigal, I see you are in church.

 

Prodigal:  Yes, I decided to see learn more about the church.  I do hear a lot about hypocrites in the church though.

 

Me:  Yes, a lot of people will avoid church saying their are hypocrites there.

 

Prodigal:  How do hypocrites start in the church?

 

Me:  Good question and it is a subject not often talked about openly but I have been reading about it.

 

Bruce Wilkinson talks about our personal holiness and also how we can become distracted.

 

After calling the Pharisees hypocrites, the Lord says that their hearts are far from God.  For a person to be holy, his or her heart motives must be pure before the Lord.  In other words, it is possible for a person to do something that the Bible clearly defines as holy and yet not fulfill biblical holiness.  Holiness can be faked before men, but faked holiness is nothing less than unholiness!

When a Christian seeks holiness in his life and engages in practices that the Bible would affirm, yet permits his heart to remain aloof or even rebellious to the Lord, such behavior would be unholy-even if the behavior appears to others to be holy.  For the Lord to declare something to be holy, both the habit and the heart must be separated unto the Lord.  One without the other only breeds destructive unholiness.

External holiness without internal holiness breeds hypocrisy, and hypocritical holiness inevitable degenerates into the bondage of legalism.

Internal holiness without external holiness breeds emotionalism, and emotional holiness inevitable degenerates into the bondage of fanaticism.

 

Legalism-strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription, especially to the letter rather than the spirit. (Dictionary.com)

Fanaticism-holding extreme beliefs that may lead to unreasonable or violent behavior (Cambridge Dictionary.com)

 

We have seen these behaviors in the church.  How interesting that we can point them out in other people in other churches but we do not look out ourselves.  I think our churches are in danger of being in bondage.

We can easily attend all these church functions.  People tell us we are good Christians and the whole time we have sin in our heart.  What are our motives in having coffee with 10 people?  Are we doing this activity to say we are “good”?  Have we ever prayed with who we should spend our time with?  Have we ever completed a behavior in the unseen that glorifies God but no one knows about?  Are we only interested in behaviors that will point a little to God but also point to what wonderful Christians we are?  What are you doing today?  Is it for your praise or for Gods?

Talk to God and let Him examine your motives right now.  If not, God will eventually deal with that sin and it will be tougher then you can imagine because you will not surrender it.

 

Psalm66:18

If I had cherished sin in my heat, the Lord would not have listened.

 

Jennifer Van Allen

 

www.faithincounseling.org

www.theprodigalpig.com