“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship [Him] in spirit and in truth” (John 4 Verses 23-24, NIV).
We must always read our watches correctly.
In the opening Bible verses, John talked about a time that was coming; then he immediately alerted us to the fact that the time had already come.
We are living in such a time - a time to worship the Father with genuine, burning hearts - never in religious hypocrisy, for religious hypocrisy has unenviable consequences.
The synonyms of hypocrisy include deceit, pretence, or false profession. You can obviously tell that there is nothing exemplary about each of them.
I believe that there are many true worshipers in the world today. I also believe that some worshipers are still outside this group. Some of those who are still outside the group of true worshipers sincerely long to change for the better – but the rest, for some reason, seek to remain the same.
The truth of the matter is that religious hypocrisy in the end only hurts the one practicing it.
In John 4:23-24, Jesus talked about true worshipers. What status do true worshipers have that distinguishes them from religious hypocrites?
Jesus said, “… [true worshipers] are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
Now that’s remarkable because it means that there are worshipers that the Father is not seeking – the worshipers that the Father does not seek - the insincere worshipers, the religious hypocrites, worshipers who do not mean business.
We need to be in the right group of worshipers. We need to always live right with God and fellow human beings. We need to be the kind of worshipers that the Father seeks; otherwise we would be a hopeless lot.
Are
you the kind of worshiper that the Father seeks? Am I the type of worshiper that the Father seeks? Am I exemplary in my worshiping? These are pertinent questions that we should constantly ask ourselves.
The Bible says: “Examine yourselves...; test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5, NIV). Every worshiper - you and me - needs to do this always.
God hates hypocrisy but loves the religious hypocrite. His desire is that the religious hypocrite may realize the folly of his conduct and repent.
There are two basic types of hypocrites found in the church. The first group comprises of non-Christians who attend church and pretend to be Christians. This is an obvious group; it pretends to attend church for God's sake when in fact it harbors other motives for doing so. Sadly, this even applies to some leaders of church denominations!
The second group comprises Christians who are hypocritical with regard to some areas of their lives. They are really born again, but still choose to act hypocritical from time to time.
We need to build up each other in love; that is the will of God for us all. There absolutely is no justification and room for condemning one another. I do not intend to condemn anybody by this short sermon; instead, I write to the end that somebody reading this may either be transformed or built up.
For your information, I also get some lessons from the very things that I write.
The purpose of this short sermon is to encourage each other to examine ourselves with the aim of identifying where we could be going the hypocritical route. Our intention should always be to make amendments wherever and whenever necessary.
The hypocritical path is not a good path; so, we are all discouraged from following it or remaining on it. The Bible has much to say about hypocrisy; we should diligently study it for guidance in this respect.
Although I focus on hypocrisy in the church, there is also a lot of it outside the church.
There is hypocrisy in world politics, business, charity work, families, etc. Although some members of such entities do not believe in God, they are still encouraged to desist from hypocrisy from the point of view of morality, principle, and conscience.
“Am I a hypocrite? Am I not?” “Do I exhibit hypocritical characteristics?” - you might already be quizzing yourself. That's a good starting point. People who examine themselves in this manner are, in my view, better in this regard compared to people who seem not to care.
So, here are my suggestions on religious hypocrisy:
- If you attend church but are not born again, I urge you to pay careful attention to the Word preached to you so that you may receive the faith to be saved. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. There is no point in you pretending to be saved; there also is no point in you attending church for reasons that have nothing to do with Christ. When the Word is preached, do not harden your heart; instead, allow the Word to pierce through it.
- If you are a Christian who still acts hypocritical in some respects, please allow the Word to transform you. Rebuke yourself each time you act hypocritically. Grow up, for God's sake! You are in a better condition because you are already born again.
May we, to the best of our abilities, strive to be sincere to God, to ourselves, and to fellow human beings. That is the will of God; this I exhort you.
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER
Prayer Point for Today: That I may be, and remain, the kind of worshiper the Father seeks.
Holy Father, I long to walk strictly in Your path for the rest of my life.
It won't help me if I were to walk in a manner that does not please You. I want to be the kind of Christian that You seek, one who worships You both in spirit and in truth.
I don't want to be a mere Christian, or a name-tag Christian. I seek to be the best I could be before You and I know that it is only by Your grace that I could be so.
Help me, Holy Father, for without You I can achieve nothing in this respect.
Fill me with Your spirit each and every morning. Hypocrisy fights against Your cause. So, those who practice it fight against Your cause; I don't want to be one of such people.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray.
You may also want to read: ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN STRUGGLING WITH TEMPTATION?
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