Participants:
Series Code: RQRA
Program Code: RQRA000012A
|
00:01 I don't understand.
00:04 Why did this have to happen to me? 00:08 I feel like 00:09 I just can't make sense of things. 00:12 I need answers. 00:15 Where is God? 00:20 You know, one of the biggest points, 00:22 the pillars of the Protestant Reformation 00:24 was the idea of Sola scriptura, the Bible alone. 00:29 Welcome to Raw Questions Relevant Answers. 00:31 This is a program in which myself 00:34 and my two friends, 00:35 co-hosts here Dee Casper, Michelle Doucoumes. 00:38 We are here to try and bring clarity 00:41 to some of the raw questions that we all go through 00:45 based on that principle of Sola scriptura, 00:48 the Bible and the Bible alone. 00:50 Today, we're going to be tackling 00:52 the subject of hypocrisy. 00:54 I think this is something 00:56 that we come across all the time 00:58 and it becomes one of the biggest reasons 01:00 why people end up leaving the church. 01:03 And I just want to reiterate that all these questions 01:05 that we are going to be dealing with today 01:07 have been sent in from people online 01:11 on to our Facebook. 01:12 And if you want to ask more questions to us 01:15 to get answered, follow us on RQRA3ABN, 01:21 that's on Facebook. 01:22 So let's dive into this. You all ready? 01:24 Yeah. All right. 01:25 Okay, our first question, "How do we deal with hypocrisy 01:30 within the church using a biblical perspective?" 01:34 This is a question from a male who is 24 years old in Florida. 01:41 Well, let's look at a biblical example of Jesus 01:46 having to deal with the situation of Him... 01:51 Kind of having people 01:52 who are trying to press Him for, 01:54 whether it be breaking the Sabbath or paying taxes, 01:57 like they were always trying to catch Jesus 01:59 in a certain way. 02:00 But what I find is interesting is that the very motives 02:02 that are driving them at this stage are murderous, 02:07 are covetous, are... 02:10 You know, there's hatred filled within these individuals 02:12 who are claiming to uphold the law on one side 02:15 but are violating the law in their attempt 02:17 and their pursuits, 02:19 I think it's a biblical example of hypocrisy. 02:22 One of the ways that Jesus dealt with that 02:24 was by getting to the core of the motives 02:26 of the situation, right? 02:28 He would address certain issues 02:30 of the true issues of the heart, 02:32 not just what you say with your mouth 02:34 right in the beatitude, you know. 02:35 If someone looks at a man with murderous thoughts, 02:38 he's guilty of murder, you know, or hatred. 02:40 Someone looks upon a woman with lust, 02:43 they've already committed adultery in their heart. 02:45 One of the ways that Jesus dealt with hypocrisy 02:48 was by dealing with the true core motives 02:50 of an individual and getting to the heart of the matter 02:52 as opposed to just bantering back and forth. 02:55 And one of the things Jesus had to do unfortunately 02:57 was to cleanse the temple for instance of these people 03:01 who are making the house of God a den of thieves, 03:03 they were merchandising and selling 03:05 and extorting people 03:07 while claiming to uplift biblical principles. 03:09 Jesus had to go through a process, 03:12 not necessarily to give us an example, 03:13 like I'm not necessarily recommending 03:15 that we're going with a whip and cords 03:16 and flip tables in our churches, 03:17 but the example is that He is making it clear 03:20 that He's not okay with hypocrisy, 03:23 as far as a biblical framework. 03:24 He had a problem with that He alone had the authority 03:26 to cleanse that church. 03:28 But in that situation, I think we can start to extrapolate 03:31 some principles that He's not okay with it 03:33 and He wants us to know that that's the case. 03:36 Yeah, you know, 03:38 we sometimes wonder is hypocrisy all that bad, 03:41 doesn't everyone kind of put up upfront. 03:45 Well, actually, in the very heart, 03:48 in the Ten Commandments, it also talks about this. 03:51 In Exodus 20:7, it says, 03:56 "You shall not take the name of the Lord 03:58 your God in vain." 04:00 And isn't that what we do in hypocrisy? 04:02 We're taking Christ's name 04:04 but we're not taking His character. 04:07 We're taking it in vain and God does not like that. 04:10 Yeah. 04:11 And so, you know, for those of you 04:13 who feel like you've been hurt by hypocrisy 04:14 or hypocrisy in the church, 04:16 know that that hurts the heart of God too. 04:19 But we've all probably been guilty of it. 04:21 We all have been guilty of it in some different time, 04:23 so how do we deal with that biblically? 04:26 You know, Matthew 18 has some interesting principles 04:28 when someone harms you, 04:29 whether that be through hypocrisy 04:31 or whatever kind of sin. 04:32 And it invites us starting in verse 15 04:34 that we go to the person, you know, one on one 04:37 and talk to them about what we see 04:39 that then we take someone else with us. 04:41 If not, then we go to the church with this. 04:44 And then it says, 04:46 verse 17, "If He refuses to hear them, 04:48 tell it to the church. 04:49 If he refuses even to hear the church, 04:50 let him to be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 04:55 So like we throw him out, 04:56 but how did Jesus treat heathens 04:58 and tax collectors? 05:00 With kindness. With kindness, right? 05:02 He ate with them, He hung out with them, 05:05 and so while hypocrisy is not a good thing 05:08 and it's a hurtful thing, even to God. 05:11 God still wants us to have biblically 05:14 a sense of compassion and help to those 05:17 who are dealing with that. 05:19 You know, basically then to summarize 05:22 what we've just said here is that, first of all, 05:24 God ain't cool with hypocrisy. 05:26 He doesn't like it. 05:27 It's not something that He is fond of 05:30 and that when we deal with it, 05:31 one way of dealing with it is Matthew 18. 05:34 You know, addressing it in the principles there, 05:37 from a Bible perspective, 05:38 which means we shouldn't go around 05:40 telling everybody else about so and so brother 05:43 who is hypocritical, right? 05:45 You know, the other thing too that we can deal with it 05:48 is who is the church? 05:50 It's you, right? It's me. 05:52 If we want to take hypocrisy out of the church, 05:56 let it start with me. 05:57 Rather than saying, "Oh, the church is bad, 06:00 they're all hypocrites, they're this, they're that," 06:02 are we not being hypocritical in saying that ourselves? 06:04 Right. 06:06 Let's, first, take a look at ourselves and say, 06:08 "Do I love God supremely? 06:09 Am I honest about my faith, and experience, 06:13 and harmonizing the two? 06:14 Or am I professing to love God while really loving the world?" 06:19 You know, before we charge everybody else with hypocrisy, 06:23 we need to take a look 06:24 at it in our own lives, you know. 06:26 You know, we're dealing with Him in the same way 06:27 that we ourselves would like to be dealt with. 06:28 You think it's the Golden Rule, 06:30 am I treating them in the way that I would want to be treated 06:32 if I were out of harmony with the will of God, 06:34 but that if is... 06:36 You know, we do find ourselves. 06:38 That it's not if I do sometime, like we do wrestle with that, 06:41 how would I want to be treated in that same situation. 06:43 Yeah, 'cause it's like you're saying in Matthew 7:4, 06:47 it tells us, "How can you say to your brother, 06:49 let me remove the plank from your eye, 06:52 the speck from your eye when there's a plank 06:53 in your own eye." 06:54 Yeah. 06:56 And then verse 5, Jesus says, "Hypocrite! 06:58 First remove from your own eye," 07:01 and so that is when Jesus calls people hypocrite, 07:03 it's often when we are trying to look 07:05 at other people's issues and not our own. 07:07 Right. 07:09 Okay, so let's move on to the next question. 07:11 This is from a female, 26 years of age. 07:15 Is it hypocrisy to try to help a friend 07:19 out of a certain sin when I myself struggle 07:22 with the same thing? 07:24 I first of all just want to affirm the sincerity 07:26 of the question and I'm proud of this individual. 07:31 To recognize and to have the self-awareness of the fact, 07:35 that my life is not where I'd like for it to be 07:37 and to wrestle with that, for that to bother you 07:39 is evidence already that the Spirit of God 07:41 is working in your life and praise God for that. 07:44 We should praise God for that. 07:46 But I think one of the things we can realize is that 07:48 we of all people 07:50 are acquainted with the struggle 07:52 and with the battle in that area, right? 07:54 And it says actually in 1 Corinthians 10. 07:58 I want to turn there. 07:59 1 Corinthians 10, 08:01 and verse we'll say 12. 08:06 "Therefore let him who thinks he stands 08:08 take heed lest he fall." 08:09 But then it says in verse 13 that 08:10 "No temptation has overtaken you 08:12 except such as is common to man. 08:15 But God is faithful, who will not allow 08:16 you to be tempted beyond what you are able, 08:18 but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, 08:20 that you may be able to bear it." 08:23 One of the points made here is that 08:25 other people go through this too. 08:27 And I remember when I first encountered that 08:28 with some of my battles, immediately, I felt human. 08:32 To know that someone else had wrestle with that, 08:34 like, I wasn't just some animal, right? 08:36 I was someone, I was a human being 08:38 that was wrestling with a particular topic 08:40 that someone else can relate to 08:42 and I found in discussing with someone else 08:44 who's having the same battle 08:45 and not succeeding all the time in it. 08:47 We were able to pray with each other 08:49 to study together, to hold each other accountable, 08:52 he not being a great blessing to me 08:54 at a great time of need in my life 08:56 to have a safe place to talk through these things. 08:58 It can actually be quite valuable 09:00 in those situations. 09:02 One doesn't necessary have to be an expert 09:03 in overcoming to able to be an accountability partner 09:06 and to be as the Bible says, iron sharpening iron 09:09 and it's one of those battles. 09:10 Let me kind of play devil's advocate 09:12 and to use answer though. 09:14 That's super true. 09:15 And the other thing though is in Matthew 15. 09:19 It cautions us about the blind leading the blind, 09:22 lest they both fall into a ditch. 09:25 And so I do see that there is something here 09:28 where we are to help each other in our weakness 09:31 and that's not a bad thing, but there may be times. 09:33 If you're really struggling with something, 09:35 especially a problem or an addiction, 09:37 don't only go to someone else who has that same problem, 09:40 maybe both of you need to go to someone 09:42 that can help. 09:44 And so there is a place to find godly mentors, 09:46 godly counselors, 09:48 those who can see outside of that issue and help to lead 09:52 and give some counsel. 09:53 It's a super good point 09:55 when it comes to accountability, 09:56 like there's one side where it's helpful 09:57 but there can be the temptation to just appease each other 10:01 in that particular situation 10:02 and we need greater accountability. 10:04 And sometimes someone who's struggling 10:06 may give you that, but at the same time 10:08 it is helpful to seek together potentially experts 10:11 who can help in that direction. 10:12 Yeah, I agree with that. 10:14 Good stuff. 10:15 Okay, let's move on to our next question. 10:18 This is from a female in a Washington state. 10:22 "When I see people being hypocritical 10:24 in their lifestyle and/or treatment of others, 10:26 how do I avoid falling into the trap 10:28 of being judgmental myself?" 10:34 That kind of reminds me 10:35 of what we talked about earlier, 10:36 about being careful to not just 10:39 forget the own plank in our own eye, 10:42 hold judge not, lest ye be judged." 10:44 Yeah. 10:45 And I think that one of the things 10:46 that is helpful for me when I see people 10:49 wrestling with certain situations 10:51 is trying to look past 10:52 what they're doing and better understand 10:54 what they're going through, for instance. 10:56 One of the ways in which people hurt folks 10:58 in religious settings 10:59 and just in the life in relationships in general 11:01 is because they themselves are hurt 11:03 and what it's helped for me, what it's helped to do for me 11:07 is to contextualize what they're doing to recognize 11:09 that this is the result of them feeling pain in their life 11:13 and weakness in their experience. 11:15 And this is why they're acting out in this way. 11:17 This is why they're trying to find self-esteem 11:19 by criticizing everybody else for doing something 11:21 they don't struggle with, 11:23 even though they clearly struggle 11:24 in other areas if that makes sense. 11:26 It's helped me to contextualize is, 11:27 that make a right no but it's helped me 11:29 to have compassion for these individuals 11:31 as opposed to just frustration or anger 11:33 if that makes sense. 11:35 Here's another quote from somebody 11:38 that I really appreciate, it's in the book, 11:41 Testimonies for the Church, volume 5. 11:43 And it says, you see that your brothers 11:45 do not come up to the Bible standard 11:47 that there are defects in them, 11:49 and you dwell upon these defects, 11:52 you feed upon them instead of feeding them upon Christ. 11:57 And by beholding, you become changed 11:59 into the same image. 12:01 But criticize no one, 12:03 do not contrast your own exact course 12:05 with the deficiencies of another, 12:07 you may be in danger of wanting to correct others 12:10 and make them feel their wrongs, 12:12 do not do this. 12:14 This is not the work God has given you to do, 12:16 He has not made you a church tinker. 12:19 There are many things 12:20 would you view in the light of the Bible, 12:22 but though you may be in the right on some points, 12:24 do not get the impression that your positions 12:26 are always correct. 12:28 For on many points your ideas are distorted 12:31 and will not bear criticism. 12:33 So basically, don't try to go around correcting everybody. 12:36 Right. 12:38 Don't think that your opinions are always right 12:40 that you always have it all together 12:42 because you probably don't. 12:44 Yeah. And I love that part in there. 12:46 It said about, by beholding, we become changed, 12:49 and that's such a huge thing. 12:51 What we focus on, we tend to go towards, 12:53 we tend to become more like, and that's the big danger 12:57 is that am I going to my brother or sister 13:00 because I really care about them. 13:03 Or am I gossiping, am I talking about it, 13:05 am I thinking about it, I will become like that 13:08 if I'm not careful. 13:09 And at minimum if I don't become like that, 13:11 I'm going to be discouraged. 13:12 Yes. 13:13 And many people leave the church 13:15 because they're discouraged over these things. 13:16 We see so much of the bad, we forget to see 13:19 what God's doing as well. 13:20 Amen. 13:22 And to have the faith in Jesus in them 13:23 for what they could be, not just what you currently see 13:25 and loving them as if that were the case. 13:27 Fault-finding is a malignancy, 13:29 it's a cancer and it's contagious. 13:31 And we have to be super, super careful 13:33 with this that we don't develop 13:35 that type of lifestyle of fault-finding. 13:37 Now I do want to just say one thing 13:38 before our time runs out. 13:41 We also need to be careful about if we're feeling judged, 13:45 not necessarily just putting all the blame on them. 13:50 Sometimes that feeling of judgment 13:52 is actually our own conscience burning into us 13:55 for things that we do that we know 13:57 we shouldn't be doing. 13:59 Unfortunately, we're going to have to end for now. 14:01 But I thank you so much for joining us. 14:02 Again, remember, you can join this discussion, 14:06 put your answers online on our Facebook 14:08 Raw Questions Relevant Answers at 3ABN. 14:11 Thank you. God bless. Have a great day. |
Revised 2018-08-29