I Saw a Hypocrite This Morning

When I used to attend rock concerts (Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Jethro Tull, etc.) there was a camaraderie among all of us that broke down unnecessary walls. It did not matter about backgrounds, social standings, race, or most anything else. We were “brothers and sisters” so to speak and the hospitality was tangible.

That atmosphere is sorely missing in the body of Christ. Why? I have come to the conclusion we have complicated the gospel and the message of redemption. Systematic theology with all its accoutrements has built up unnecessary walls of separation that have nothing to do with redemption and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The early believers knew nothing of the finer points of theology; they only believed that Jesus was the Risen Christ and the only Messiah. The truth that tied believers together was that eternal life could be found by faith in Jesus Christ.

Fast forward to the year A.D. 2010. Thousands of denominations have sprung up; each with their own set of distinctive doctrinal particulars. Eternal life has given way to fine tuning and deriving benefits from this earthly life, and Jesus has become a moral politician that desires national reform rather than personal salvation. We have taken the simple gospel message and exchanged it for a message that is joined to all kinds of other issues both moral and theological. And in so doing, we have not only created little ecclesiastical forts, but we have left the gospel itself.

“Look how they love one another” is a bad joke today. We cannot stand each other to say nothing of love. And in the midst of this colossal evangelical quagmire…we do not even really care. We have nothing by which to judge ourselves because during our lifetime it has always been like this. Our grand and glorious systematic theology books are like the Encyclopedia Britannica, and yet we profess to believe the “unless you become like a little child” exhortation. The Greek language has become an idol, and everyone must believe in Scriptural inerrancy regardless of the many conflicting interpretations even among the ardent inerrantists. So the interpretations are not inerrant but we still must espouse inerrancy or be deemed a heretic? How about this: You are not a heretic if you do not believe in inerrancy, but you are a heretic if you do not obey the Scriptures…starting with I Corinthians chapter 13.

I saw a hypocrite this morning.

You can see one also.

Gaze into a mirror.