Christian Hypocrisy as defined by the New Testament
Matthew 23
They give out laws to others, but they do not live by them (vs. 3-4)
Pastor Hornbuckle in my own community accused of three counts of rape and positive for methamphetamine use. He preached consistently at his cult center regarding "sexual depravity" and the sins of "drug addiction."
This activity isn't limited to church hierarchies, either. Lay persons within the churches consistently attend weekly services, answer their phones, "having a blessed day," and keep a bible close at hand, all the while engaging in
precisely the activities they say others should not: drug use, promiscuity, embezzlement, theft, assault, etc. One look at the statistics of the nation's prisons will show a high number of inmates that profess to be "Christian."
They love impressive, public religious displays, and being referred to with religious titles (vs. 5-12)
One need look only as far as televangelist nutcases like Fred Phelps, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Robert Tilton, Benny Hinn, Billy Graham, and "Dr." Voddie Baucham to see a bunch that want to be in the limelight. But the very titles of "reverend," "deacon," "bishop," "cardinal," etc. fall right into Matt. 23:5-12. I especially like those theologians that refer to themselves as "doctor" with their unaccredited Ph.D.s.
They win converts to their own religion, but not to God (vs. 13-15)
The Pottershouse Cult: 28,000 + members and nearly every single one I ever met was a regular at the club scene, spoke of promiscuous sex, etc. Two in particular gossiped in the office
constantly, wore revealing clothing, had children out of wedlock, drank alcohol, used copious amounts of profanity, etc.
But, hey, that's my own anecdotal account, which is essentially worthless since it is not quantitative. But there are other issues with this so-called "Christian" church:
Audio file (.wav – 603k) of Pottershouse evangelist Mike Sawyer preaching about
violence in a manner JC surely wouldn't agree with.
"My wife was not happy with the change in me and would not come out here. My first thoughts were to go back east and patch things up. But my pastor advised me not to do that. So I stayed and lost my family," Muccitelli said. "I stayed here; unemployed and without a family, but I was a faithful disciple. As I lost my family, I pulled closer to the church group."
Arizona Daily
They re-interpret their own laws in order to suit their own purpose (vs. 16-22)
Robert Talton, idiot at large in the Texas Legislature: uses Christianity and Jesus as justification for one of the world's largest body counts with regard to state-sponsored executions. From a party and religion that claims to "err on the side of life," this seems a bit hypocritical.
They emphasize minuscule religious details, yet ignore the most important truths (vs. 23-24)
The homosexual issue above, for instance. Mentioned a handful of times in the bible compared to the many
other sins and issues of humanity that concerned Jesus. Yet it is a HUGE deal to so-called "Christians." Indeed, only about 2% of the population is homosexual. There seems to be a far greater problem with so many other things that "Christians" could spend their time and money on, yet they expend almost as much of both on this as abortion –another issue that only affects a small portion of society.
But where are these Christians when it comes to speaking out against the atrocities occurring in places like Darfur, Sudan or Rwanda? Perhaps if the thousands of people dying in places like this were a little
whiter, they would be more easily noticed.
They keep the outward appearance clean, while leaving the inside corrupt
(vs.25-28)
<img src="http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/wfaa/03-05/0318_pastor.jpg">
The "good" Pastor (he goes by "Bishop") Hornbuckle mentioned above. Too bad you can't see the amount of
gold on his hands! The footage shown on television in D/FW had him wearing more gold than Midas.
<img src="http://www.reverendfun.com/add_toon_info.php?date=20050516&language=en">
They deny their own sinfulness (vs. 29-36)
No kidding