In his article “Truth Professed, or Believed?” John Ortberg tackles the issue of hypocrisy in the church. He begins by noting that although the Bible says that “Love must be sincere” (Romans 12:9), it does not always seem to be the case within the church. We often say that we love each other, but are our actions really demonstrating this to each other? Or more importantly, are they really demonstrating this to the outside world? He goes on to name other teachings of Jesus, such as “love your enemies” and “it is better to give than to receive”, and wonders if the church honestly believes these commands to be true. The real way to discover if Christians truly believe these teachings is not to ask them, he argues, but to see if there actions actually match with what they say to be true. He says that the best way to find out if he truly believes if it is better to give than to receive is not to ask him, but to check his bank account. I found this article very interesting because it is an issue that not only surfaces in the congregation, but among leadership as well. How does the way in which we lead reflect what we believe to be true about Jesus, the Bible and the Church? Does it line up with our beliefs, or is our hypocrisy evident? The way to create change in our church is to begin by changing our actions as leaders. We must model authentic faith, and others will follow.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article. I think that you are right in saying that the way to create change in our church is to begin by changing our actions as leaders. We must model authentic faith, and others will follow. I think that this ties in with living an authentic life in Christ. As noted in Dr. Wardle’s class, people can sense in-authenticity. Also, living an in-authentic life will lead to compromise and breakdown. Hypocrisy is definitely a big issue in the church today and is most certainly hurting the church. Unbelievers see this hypocrisy and it pushes them away. I have heard many times of unbelievers pointing to the hypocrisy of the church as a means to attack it. In the eyes of many unbelievers, they are no different than the “Christians” they see living in the world. Often times the unbelievers even point to the negative things they see “Christians” doing to illustrate how they (the unbeliever) is actually better off than the person who calls themselves a “Christian” yet lives like the world. As leaders, we must guard against hypocrisy and strive to live an authentic life. And remember that, people will remember what you do long after they hear what you say.
ReplyDelete