Why is the church full of hypocrites?

Because the world is full of hypocrites. Now, before you shake your head in disgust at those terrible hypocrites, let me channel my inner Paul Washer and remind you, I’m talking about you. And me. We are all eager to present ourselves as better than we are. And so we project an image that is flattering and inaccurate. Such may be the actual engine that drives the raging success of various social media platforms. We all get to put our best foot forward, using the best moments of our lives to construct an illusion.

Social media, however, has another part to play in our Hypocrisy Follies. Social media discourages thoughtful discourse. We don’t so much think as feel, and our feelings are driven by our echo chambers and our memes rather than careful, deliberate and rational thought. Consider the strange bedfellows of politics. First, how can we miss the hypocrisy of Republicans who thirty years ago vehemently insisted that the President’s private life disqualified him from office and then, when it was their guy vehemently insisted that the President’s private life is of no significance? That’s the obvious part. But wait, there’s more. While the left delights to poke fun at Republican hypocrisy in this matter, such shows that they too are hoisted on their own petard. That is, they insisted that President Clinton’s private life was of no consequence, and now insist that President Trump’s private life is of great consequence. But wait, there’s more. When the right delights to poke fun of the left for being hoisted on their own petard, for insisting first that President Clinton’s private life didn’t matter and now insisting President Trump’s does, the right is then hoisted on its own petard, since they insisted the opposite when it was President Clinton.

To put it more succinctly, we are utterly indifferent to logical consistency but deeply committed to fussing at our enemies while ignoring the beams in our own eyes. All of which reduces down to the hard fact that in our sin we all like to think of ourselves as better than we are, and are more than happy to prop that folly up by insisting that our enemies are worse than they are. We have one standard for ourselves, and another for everyone else. See jet-setting, size 16 carbon shoe wearing climate change heroes or limousine liberals who laugh all the way to the bank trying to shame those who have prospered.

What do we do about it? Confess, rather than cover our sins. Confess our, rather than their sins. Confess our not mistakes, but sins. We own that we are worse than others can see. We judge ourselves by the same standard by which we judge others. We remember, and rejoice, that our standing is not based on how we compare with others but on how He identifies with us. We have nothing to hide, for we have nothing to boast of, and know well that all will be revealed. Let’s put down the masks and lift up the cross.