The Church Is Full of Hypocrites!

Keywords: none (Suggest a Keyword) View on one page MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX ILL. When was the last time you overheard a conversation like this? Madge, how come you never shop at H.E.B.? And Madge answers, Well, I used to. But the last time I was there the place was just full of hypocrites. So Ill never go back there again. Youve never heard such a conversation about H.E.B., have you? We dont hear that kind of excuse in regard to grocery stores, schools, or the country club? But sometimes we hear it used in regard to the church. ILL. Zig Ziglar said that he invited a friend to go to church with him. The man answered, Well, Id like to go. But the church is so full of hypocrites. Ziglar replied, Thats okay. Theres always room for one more. A. Turn with me to Matthew 13:24-30. In this passage Jesus is talking about the presence of good & evil in this world. Please listen as I read it to you. Jesus told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came & sowed weeds among the wheat, & went away. When the wheat sprouted & formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owners servants came to him & said, Sir, didnt you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this, he replied. The servants asked him, Do you want us to go & pull them up? No, he answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds & tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat & bring it into my barn. In this parable Jesus says that as wheat & weeds grow side by side they look a lot alike. And if we were to try to pull up the weeds we would likely uproot the wheat as well. So

we are told to let them grow until the harvest. Then it will be easy to see which is which, & to treat them accordingly. PROP. Jesus told this parable nearly 2,000 years ago. But the lessons He was teaching are just as applicable today. So lets consider some of them this morning. I. REALITY OF HYPOCRISY A. The first one is the reality of hypocrisy. Jesus says that there will be both good & evil people in this world, & theyll be living side by side. Even the church will not be immune to this mixture. On the one hand, it seems unfair to say that the church is full of hypocrites, because I know a lot of people who have been faithful & true & authentic in their Christian lives, & theyre wonderful Christian people. But even those of us who have been Christians for many years have experienced times when our guard was down & Satan shot his fiery darts, & sin was the result. B. Now there is a difference between a Christian struggling with sin & a hypocrite. If youre struggling with a sin, you come to God saying, God, this is a weakness in my life & I really need the help of the Holy Spirit to deal with it. God welcomes that prayer & He promises to help. But the hypocrite doesnt really struggle to overcome his sin. He just tries to hide it. He thinks, When Im in church Ill behave like a Christian. Ill say the prayers. Ill sing the songs. Ill obey the rules. But when Im out in the world I become a different