Skip to main content

Counterfeiting Christianity

Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.... And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.... When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (Matt. 6:1, 5, 16)

Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long. (Matt. 23:5)
How does the Bible define hypocrites? A hypocrite wants to appear good without becoming good. Underneath this appearance, there is also false teaching: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are" (Matt. 23:15).

The world’s use of the term hypocrite agrees with Jesus’ use of the term, with this exception: Jesus identified the hypocrites to their faces. The world will accuse all Christians of being hypocrites. They do not want to admit there are some non-hypocrites in the church. If they did admit that, it would ruin their excuse for not becoming a Christian.

One day over 50 years ago, I was in the Lamplighter, our bookstore at the University of Maryland. A college student came in, wandered around a bit, and decided to tell me why he was not a Christian. Our conversation went something like this:

Student: “I am not a Christian because of the Conquistadors, Crusaders, Inquisitors, and hypocrites.”

Me: “I agree with you on all of these people, and I am a Christian. I don't see the connection.”

He looked at me as if I had not heard what he had said. Why did I not understand?

I said, “Tell me, were the Conquistadors Christians?”

“No, they weren’t Christians!”

“Were the Crusaders Christians?”

“No, they weren’t Christians!”

“Were the Inquisitors Christians?”

“No, they weren’t Christians!”

“Are the hypocrites Christians?”

“No, they're not Christians!”

“This is a marvelous thing. You just told me that you are not a Christian because of four kinds of non-Christians. That does not make sense at all! That is like rejecting concrete because Styrofoam doesn't act like concrete. Tell me, have you heard of a counterfeit $10 bill?”

“Yes.”

“Why do people counterfeit $10 bills?”

“Because the real bill is worth ten dollars, and the counterfeit is worth nothing.”

“Have you ever heard of counterfeit brown paper?”

“No.”

“Why don't people counterfeit brown paper?”

“Because it isn't worth it.”

“That's right! There has to be a ‘real’ that is worth something before anyone will make a counterfeit. Suppose you were cheated out of $20 by exchanging a good $20 bill for two counterfeit $10 bills. You would be angry. You would get so angry you would reject U.S. currency from then on! Right? No. That would be foolish. Just the fact there is fake money proves there is a real thing that is worth something.

"You have seen some counterfeit Christians; that should tell you there are real Christians out there that these hypocrites are attempting to counterfeit. What should you do? You should find a real Christian, one who is filled with love, joy, peace, and patience and clearly confesses the Lord Jesus Christ. Examine him. If, after doing that, you wish to reject Christianity because of the real thing, then that is at least honest, if not very smart. Better yet, examine Jesus and reject Him because of Him.”

Later that evening, this particular man received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The hypocrite who wants to appear good without becoming good is a person who is pretending to be a Christian. The unbeliever who objects to this takes credit for not being a “pretend Christian.” However, he does not realize that he will end up in the same lake of fire as that hypocrite. They both need to repent to the One who will save hypocrite sinners and non-hypocrite sinners.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a...
6 comments
Read more

Ripe for Harvest: Prepared to Give an Answer

As you read through the book of Acts, look at every conversion, and see what happened right before it: what was said, who said it. The situations are the same today.     A long time ago, my duty in the Officer’s Christian Fellowship was the east coast of the United States. I went to an officer’s office at Fort Lee, VA, and stayed overnight, then I went on to Norfolk and Fort Bragg.    Forty years later, I was no longer on the staff of OCF, but I had to go to Denver. While I was in Denver, I checked in at the OCF offices. There was the same Air Force officer I had met in Fort Lee, retired now, a colonel. I had stayed in his house when he was a first lieutenant. He asked me, “Do you know what happened when you stayed overnight?” I said, “No, I just remember staying in your home.” He said, “You led the next-door neighbor to Christ.” I had no memory of it.    Ten years after that, I was speaking at a banquet at the Hotel Salisbury, and who was th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lifted Up

In the first thirteen verses of John 3, Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was talking about. It was nonsense to him. When Jesus said verse fourteen to him, Nicodemus finally understood Jesus. Here it is: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up…” (John 3:14). The reason it made sense to Nicodemus was because he knew of the event that Jesus spoke of. People who had been bitten by a serpent could look at the bronze snake and did not die. Nicodemus knew the Bible story.   Here it is: “Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then ...
Post a Comment
Read more