Answering Our Culture
#7 – Christians are Judgmental and Intolerant; There Are Too Many Hypocrites.”
Various Scriptures
September 8, 2002
Introduction
This is the seventh message in our series outlining the Top 10 Reasons to not be a Christian.
We have looked at such things as the ideas that the Bible cannot be trusted, that there is no absolute truth, and that Jesus was not the only path to God.
We examined each of these claims and I offered what I think are reasonable and reasoned responses to each of these.
Today we look at some of the complaints made against Christians in our society. These complaints are that Christians are judgmental, intolerant, and hypocritical.
And as much as I hate to admit it, I have to be honest and say that there are cases where Bible-believing Christians are guilty of all three of these, and maybe more.
But overgeneralization is dangerous. To say that all Christians exhibit these is as ridiculous as claiming that all atheists and agnostics are satanic, and hate Christians, and I can tell you from personal experience that that’s just not true.
Most of the agnostics I know are kind and considerate people, who joke with me about all sorts of stuff, and would be there to help me if I needed it, and I would be there for them.
Today I want to discuss three accusations made against Christians and the Christian faith, and I want to take a few moments to answer them.
I. Christians are Judgmental.
Years ago, the most quoted verse in the world was John 3:16 -
JN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In recent years, however, the most quoted verse is Matthew 7:1 –
MT 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
The implication is that all judgments are bad. What is really meant by that statement in the world of tolerance is that you Christians have no right to judge, because Jesus said not to.
I deal with this issue in more detail in one of the previous messages, but let me just say here that Jesus did not say to make no judgements, but later said that we are to make judgments in light of His Word.
Also, Jesus Himself made some rather harsh judgments, and not in a very politically correct manner, as we shall see when we look at the issue of hypocrisy.
One of the biggest areas where the issue of judgmentalism plays a part is in the issue of how to get to heaven.
The Christian says that only those who have been born again will get to heaven, because that’s what Jesus said in John 3.
But if you don’t like that, you can claim that you deserve heaven because you haven’t been bad enough to go to hell.
“I’ve never stolen anything or murdered anybody. It’s not like I cooked the books at Enron or WordCom. I haven’t cheated the IRS.” Whatever.
This may be very true for you. In fact, I hope it is! But there is a problem with that logic, and that is that the standard for morality is not other people, it is God.
God’s standard is perfection, and by that standard, no one will get to heaven.
In fact, that is the point of the crucifixion of Jesus. Only His blood can make us perfect in the sight of God. And only those who come to God through Christ will find forgiveness and heaven.
Because you see, the issue is not how bad we are. The fact is that we are all sinners. Sin is not what we do, it’s who we are. The Bible says that if we break just one command of Scripture, we’ve broken them all.
But here’s the bottom line here. Christians are not the ones being judgmental, when it comes right down to it. The job of Christians is not to be judges, but rather to communicate God’s judgments that are outlined in His Word.
Unfortunately, the attitude of many Christians goes beyond this, and they think that because they have discovered the forgiveness of sins, they have it all together, and have the right to be haughty, smug, and rude in how they treat those who do not agree.
And if that is bothersome to you, I stand with you in total agreement.
Because if you truly appreciate what God has done for you in Christ, you will be humble in how you discuss it with other people, remembering that before you gave your life to Christ, you were in the same boat, headed toward an eternity in hell.
God does not smile on that type of arrogance, believe me.
Allow me to read a verse from Romans 12 –
RO 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
God wants humility, not arrogance.
Before we move on to the next section, I want to tell you about something I read recently in Readers Digest about judging:
Never judge a man unless you have walked a mile in his shoes. Then you will be a mile away and he has no shoes!
Let’s move on to the next accusation leveled against Christians.
II. Christians are Intolerant.
I will only spend a few moments here, because I deal with this in much more detail in the last two messages of this series, but let me highlight a few things along the lines of intolerance.
The issue of tolerance is undergirded by a belief that all viewpoints, and especially all religions are equal and valid.
When a Christian claims that Jesus is the only way to God, that is view as intolerant by our society.
But I think it needs to be pointed out that “tolerant” people are in fact very intolerant, especially toward viewpoints that claim to possess truth that contradicts the “tolerant” viewpoint. Understand?
In other words, some of the most vocal believers of tolerance are intolerant to my viewpoint, and I have found that those who promote tolerance are generally very dogmatic about it!
“You must believe in tolerance or something is wrong with you!” That doesn’t sound very tolerant, does it?
Tolerance likes to promote the sincere practice of one’s religion. This is not the case with Christianity, however.
Sincere practice of Biblical Christianity includes telling people that God has provided a way out of eternal punishment and opened the door to heaven to all who call on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
To not expose people to the good news of forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven through Jesus is to be disobedient to the one who gave the command to do so: Jesus Christ Himself.
Can we truly be a sincere follower of Christ if we disregard His commands? Would you suggest that a sincere Buddhist put aside his convictions for the sake of political correctness?
On the surface, one would think that would be consistent with the logic of “tolerance.” However, in real life, it is much more consistent to ridicule Christianity and expect it to conform, than to encourage sincere devotion.
If truth be told, those who profess to be tolerant are hoping to convert those who disagree with them.
Is that not hypocritical? I disagree with you, and you are bent on convincing me to agree. That is hardly tolerant and accepting, is it?
True tolerance means that you must not only allow me to practice my religious faith, you should be encouraging me in it, because it is where I find fulfillment and meaning in this life on earth.
On the other hand, Biblical Christians make no pretence of tolerance. We respect people of other faiths, but we do not pretend to agree with them.
In college I had many Muslim and Hindu friends, as well as atheist and agnostic friends. But they did not put aside their convictions in order to be my friend, and neither did I.
Tolerance in this case did not, and it still does not, mean agreement.
To tolerate means to put up with something you don’t like. However, in this society, we are not asked to just put up with something, we are asked to accept and even celebrate it.
But this does not go both ways when it applies to Biblical Christianity.
The last accusation leveled against Christians that we will look at today is that…
III. There are too many hypocrites in the church.
It’s been said that "Some Christians spend the first six days of each week sowing their wild oats, then they go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure."
Met anybody like that? I’m sure you have; most of us have.
Hypocrisy is a very real problem in the church, no doubt about it.
A person claims to love God and yet sins as blatantly as anybody else, or else claims to love God and yet is rude and ugly about it – hardly reflecting the love that Jesus says we are to have for others. This is not good, and God does not like it, either.
But allow me to point out something out by asking a question. What is the basis of your anger?
You are angry about the hypocrisy, but you do not uphold the values you say are so important that the hypocrite is offending. Your anger is hollow, because it doesn’t affect the values you hold deeply, only values that you think someone else should hold, namely the Christian.
Is that being very honest?
The ones on this earth who should be offended by hypocrisy are those who do love Christ and seek to live for Him, because it makes a mockery out of the love and grace made available to us by the suffering of Jesus.
Jim Wallis writes in The Call to Conversion (HarperCollins, 1992, p. 108) his testimony: "When I was a university student, I was unsuccessfully evangelized by almost every Christian group on campus. My basic response to their preaching was, “How can I believe when I look at the way the church lives?” They answered, “Don’t look at the church, look at Jesus.” I now believe that statement is one of the saddest in the history of the church. ...People should be able to look at the way we live and begin to understand what the gospel is about. Our lives must tell them who Jesus is and what he cares about."
Contributed by: Alan Stokes
And isn’t that really what hypocrisy is all about?
Jesus was loving, yet uncompromising. The church too often fails in this regard.
But if you think you hate hypocrisy, let me tell about Jesus’ attitude toward it.
In talking to the hypocritical religious leadership of His time, He called them “a brood of vipers,” “blind guides,” “sons of hell,” and my personal favorite, “whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”
Jesus quotes a passage from the prophet Isaiah to describe them: “These people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”
The bottom line here is that God hates hypocrisy even more than you do! Really!
Zig Ziglar says that if you stay away from church because it has too many hypocrites, don’t let that stop you – there’s always room for one more!
I’d guess that just about everybody has been a hypocrite at one time or another, so be careful about that excuse.
But what is the answer to hypocrisy? More religion? I don’t think so – what we need is more relationship. A relationship with Jesus Christ is essential to leave the trap of hypocrisy.
Have you ever noticed that we tend to become like the people we associate with?
Well, associating yourself with Jesus helps us to become more like Him. We associate with Jesus by developing a relationship with Him and others seeking to be Christlike.
Hypocrisy is, indeed, a problem in the church. A true love for the Lord Jesus Christ, taking Biblical values as your lifestyle is the only antidote for it.
Conclusion
We have all heard the accusations we have discussed today. Maybe you have even made them.
And in all fairness, there are plenty of Christians around who fit the bill, and I wish it weren’t true, but it is.
I have met some of them, and they make my blood boil, and what’s left of my hair stand on end.
And I love the quote from Joyce Meyers that goes like this: I am not where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be.
You see, because Christians are imperfect does not negate the truth of the Scriptures. A faulty messenger does not make the message itself faulty, because it can be checked outside of the say-so of the messenger.
What do I mean by that? Simply that you can check out anything I say today by going to God’s Word, the Bible. I am not perfect, but God’s Word is. Look past me to see what the Bible has to say, and ask God to open your heart and mind to see what He really has to say to you.
If you’re looking for a perfect church, give up the search. If you find one, the moment you join it, it won’t be perfect anymore.
But if you are looking to establish a relationship with God that is marked by love, devotion, and a marked lack of the very complaints that have been leveled against Christians, you can have that today.
Like other relationships, a relationship with God is a two-way street. He reaches out to you when you reach out to Him. In fact, He started it! He sent His Son to die for you, even before you were born, knowing you would not naturally come to Him on your own for forgiveness.
He offers forgiveness for all your sins, and you offer…nothing. The truth is that we have nothing to offer. The Bible says that the best we have to offer is no better than filthy rags.
All we can do is recognize our need for what Christ offers and take it for ourselves by calling on Him for the things He offers: forgiveness, a home in heaven, and a full life on earth.
Then, with His help, we must turn from our sins, believing that He died for us and rose from the dead to seal the covenant for eternity.
One last thing. While it’s true that God hates hypocrisy, He loves hypocrites.
How can I say that? Because hypocrites are like any other sinner. They are loved by God. So much so that He sent His Son to die for them so that they can have hope for eternal life.
I would invite you, if you would like to establish a relationship with the one who can save your soul and give you real meaning in life, to pray with me as I pray a prayer that you can make your own, taking Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord.
In doing this, you gain the forgiveness of sins, a home in heaven, and the promise of a full life on earth.
Jesus does not promise it will be easy. In fact, He promises that it will be hard at times. But He also promises that He would be with us at all times, as His Holy Spirit lives in us, helping us to love Christ and live for Him.
Shall we pray.
