When No One's Looking

One of the most confusing things for me when I was growing up was that the only difference in a lot of people who went to church verses those who didn’t regularly attended was that some people sleep in on Sunday’s and some went to church. I can remember being at a homecoming party my senior year of high school and seeing a couple of guys who attended the local Baptist church and who where also active in the youth group attending this party. Not only that but these guys where participating in the same things that the rest of us where doing. This was confusing. Every school has a group of kids who regularly attend the local youth groups and church services on Sunday. The problem with this is that I can only think of two individuals I went to school with that actually reflected what I would consider practicing what they preached. Now that I am an adult I see this more then ever.

I have used the excuse and have heard the excuse that the church is full of hypocrites. This is the reason a lot of people use for not attending church or not being a Christian at all. What exactly is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is person that is two-faced, that has a double standard, anyone who says one thing and does another. We are all hypocritical in some form or fashion, we are human, and we make mistakes. In actuality the hypocritical view that many people have hinged their selves on is based off the fact that self proclaimed Christians have a lifestyle that does not line up with the teaching of Jesus. You may be asking yourself, how do non-Christian, non-church attendees know about Jesus’ teachings? I will be so bold to say that people who have never cracked open the bible have heard about Jesus’ love. He loved people unconditionally and he served with unconditional love. Many churches have gotten caught up with the rules and regulations of their denomination. The church leaders and devoted members are concentrating on what people are doing or not doing that doesn’t line up with their beliefs. The “Christians” of the church make comments about other denominations and comment about people who are there or make comments like “Haven’t seen you in a while!” What a way to make a person feel welcomed! Now this isn’t all people in a church but the point is it only takes one person to deter a person from accepting the Christian faith and most importantly turning away from the love Jesus.

When I saw those individuals at the party my senior year and how they started hanging out with us regularly that prevented me from seeking God in my life. I am not blaming them, I am just pointing out how our actions as Christians affect others. I honestly thought that since they were church goers and claimed to be Christians then I should be fine because I believe in God and they are doing the same things as me.

Actions speak louder then words. This is a commonly used phrase that has a lot of truth behind it. Being a Christian is not a few church services a year or serving on some church committee or doing good deeds. Being a Christian is about following Christ, it’s about having an inward appearance that matches the outward. Matthew 23:28 says”…on the outward you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” The true vision of Christ has been distorted with religious laws. There is a couple that lives in our town and they struggle with drugs and alcohol. One weekend we were doing a food drive and I got out and approached this house. The lady let me in once I explained that I was with a church and we were doing a food drive. As I enter the house it was apparent that they didn’t care that I knew about there drug usage or alcohol consumption. She went to the kitchen where she grabbed several canned good items out of a box that looked as if it was from the same food pantry that we were taking donations for. As I started out the door I turned to tell them to check out our church service one Sunday morning, but as soon as I said that it hit me. She wouldn’t be accepted in my church. She wouldn’t wear “Sunday’s best” and she wouldn’t have the smell of perfume, she wouldn’t say things politically correct and she wouldn’t be “biblically correct.” It reminded me of Todd Agnew’s song, My Jesus. Here is a portion of that song:

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus

You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity

I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means to be like You Jesus

Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me

Can I be like You Jesus?

I want to be like you Jesus!

I want to be like my Jesus!

Jesus said in John 13:34-35 “I give you a new commandment; love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus is saying that if we truly love one another people of the world will know that we are His disciples. This means watching the daily choices and actions that we decide to associate with. I came to Christ by people showing me genuine love; of course family loved me but I am talking about the love that people show that goes above and beyond. When I finally accepted Christ into my life it wasn’t because I had read the Bible or because someone had talked me into it. It was because of a handful of people at the Salvation Army who reflected true love. When the company I worked for asked us to become involved in our community through volunteering with non-profit organizations, it was no mistake that I was drawn to the Salvation Army. Jesus led me there to find my salvation. It was there that I found a group of individuals who truly exhibited love, love toward one another and love to each and every stranger that walked in off the street. It wasn’t shown with preaching Bible verses and it wasn’t shown by condemnation. It was through a hot meal, a clean set of cloths, and a toy for a child or a simple domino game. Through these simple acts of kindest some of these individuals that walked into the Salvation Army came to know Christ and some like my self who didn’t need a material thing was shown acceptance and kindness. There was one lady, Jolissa, who knew what I needed. She saw right through me and it scared me but when she invited me to Sunday service I wanted to come. I couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough, all I could do was accept. If I didn’t show up she never made a big deal about it and it made me want to come more. I knew they where disciples of Jesus by their love.

It was the place that I learned that if I am truly going to be called a disciple of Christ I am going show love to one another, I am going to make sure that the inside matches the outside. [“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence! Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so the outside of it may also become clean.” Matthew 23:25-26]

We are all guilty of being hypocrites but what are we going to do about it? Are we going to be transparent with our friends, family and even strangers? Are we going to make a genuine effort to live our lives for Christ through His Word? If Jesus was to pull our credit card bill, movie rental history or our Internet browsing history would he find things that are full of greed and self-indulgence? The thing is Jesus already knows and he is waiting on us, he knows that we can’t do this thing called life without Him. It’s why he went to the cross.