“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
– Matthew 23:27-28, KJV
Jesus dealt with hypocrisy in his day.
So, why are we surprised to find it in our own?
With the breaking of the Duggar scandal and the media crowing over Christian hypocrisy, I thought this reminder was in order. Just because someone claims to be a Christian does not make one so (see Mt 7:21). Their actions must match their profession (I John 3:6).
When one is hurt by “Christians” or the church, the temptation to reject God and all Christians is strong. I get it. I have been there myself. The temptation is real.
A major reason this blog exists is to be an alternate–and hopefully healing–voice to those religious voices that abused faithful spouses and their supporters. I speak out as a pastor on these as it sometimes takes the voice of a pastor to correct what another pastor has destroyed through ignorance or malice.
The reaction to reject all of Christianity is akin–I believe–to the initial reaction we might have to the opposite gender following adultery discovery. At that point, a faithful spouse might say or think:
I hate all women! I will never open myself up to another woman again, period.
But reason, hopefully, kicks into gear and the faithful spouse realizes that not all women (or men) are bankrupt in character like their exes or soon to be ex. They remember the kind women (or men) who encouraged them. Maybe they remember loving female (or male) family members that were and are there for them in their distress. So, they renounce this inner vow.
Similarly, I hope reason kicks in when it comes to your faith. Do not give Satan the victory. He would like nothing more than to convince you that God is the author of the evil you have experienced. That is a lie.
Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, cheaters and their supporters might use Christian-like language looking righteous from the outside but being nothing but death and bones on the inside. This is not a new phenomenon.
I cannot praise my Jesus enough. He was there for me in my darkest valleys and helped me literally survive the onslaught of Hell. I am convinced I would be dead today apart from my relationship with Jesus and hearing His words of encouragement and strength.
Ditch the religious hypocrites.
Cling to Christ.
You know – my head knows this but my heart says otherwise. I haven’t given up on faith or God. My pastor spouse had an emotional affair with another pastor. He lost his standing, she got a slap on the wrist and wrote a letter of apology to me that did nothing except blame me. Spouse and I tried the reconciliation dance for a year and a half but he started dating her again before the divorce was final and while he was still living in our house. So I find it very difficult to go to church. I’ve attended once since the start of the second “affair” and I felt suffocated. In all of the mess, only three pastors had the courage to call them on their behavior. Two of them part of our denomination and the third a personal friend in a different denomination. It is very difficult for me to trust clergy and church leaders at this point. It isn’t God though!