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Sometimes people refuse to associate with the church
because Christians may seem to be less than perfect. A frequent excuse
among men for not seeking salvation through Jesus Christ is, they say,
"the church is full of hypocrites." Sadly, this charge is partly true.
This is an apology, a personal confession, and a
statement of fact; after all, Christians are still only people, and
people often fail to be at their best. The answer is, "yes, there are
hypocrites in the church." But l' don't feel it necessary to say that
the church is "filled" with hypocrites. We should give Christians some
benefit of the doubt and assume that, although they are human, they are
earnestly trying to live in accord with their convictions. We must-
recognize the vast difference between those who are trying to live as
Christians but who make mistakes and those who say they are Christians
but do not try to live better.
The church is not the only place where we find
hypocrites, however. They exist on the golf course, the highways, and
in business. They are everywhere. Although you may not attend church
because of them, have you given up golf, or driving your car, or
working for a living because of them? Of course not, it wouldn't be
practical. We overlook the hypocrisy of our golf companion when he
cheats on his score, we do not cease to drive our car because the man
in the next lane speeds, and we do not refuse our paycheck even though
a fellow worker steals and does not give a day's work for a day's pay.
Why, only when the church is involved, do we feel
hypocrisy seriously enough to withdraw from that association? If we
quit church because of a hypocritical Christian, why don't we quit work
because of a hypocritical fellow worker? It would be just as logical,
yet I have never heard this excuse used for quitting work, have you? It
has been said (but not by the Bible) that the church is a hospital for
sinners. Jesus said nearly the same thing in Matthew 9:12, "They that
be need not a physician, but they that are sick".
More exactly, the church is where God places those who
come to him through Christ, See Acts 2:47. However, it is clear that,
of those who come, many do not remain faithful to the teachings of
Christ. Jesus spoke of this situation in Matthew 13:24-30 when told the
parable of the wheat the tares. Tares are a useless weed which were, in
the parable, sown in a field by an enemy of the farmer. Rather than
pull out the sprouting tares, thereby destroying much of the wheat, the
farmer decided to let the wheat and the tares grow together and then to
separate them at harvest. Jesus explained His parable in Matthew
13:37-43 saying,
He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom;
but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed
them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers
are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the
fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send
forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity: and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire where there shall be wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
Admittedly, there are non-Christians who are better than
some who claim to be Christians. There may also be non-Christians who
are morally stronger than some who are, indeed, Christians. If you are
one of these and you are a very good person, does that eliminate Your
need for a savior? The apostle, Paul, said (in Romans 3:23), "For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Thus, all men need the
savior Jesus Christ, and there are none who can come to God without the
savior; Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man
cometh unto the Father but by me." Thus, if even a good man is to be
saved, it must be through the way of Jesus Christ. Church membership is
unavoidable when one obeys the will of Christ; this obedience results
in a reaction by God of adding the obedient believer to the church. It
is God who places the believer in the church, the believer has no
choice in this matter.
Salvation and eternal life are obtained only through
Christ. Christians, themselves, must live in the church with hypocrites
who claim to be Christians and whose lives are an embarrassment for
them and for Christ. However, those who seek salvation must not let the
Hypocrites deter them, for disobedience to the will of Christ will
result in condemnation; the existence of hypocrites in the church will
not be a valid excuse on judgement day.
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