Let’s consider three areas that a local church is susceptible to hypocrisy. It is quite common for a church to function in opposition to how they are calling their people to function. The three things I want to explore are outreach, money, and children’s ministry.
Consider this line of thinking. “I love doing good works. I really want to be known as a man who loves his community and cares about the poor. In fact, just so everyone knows, when I do good works in the community I wear a neon shirt with my name on it. I simply want people to know my name when they see all that I am doing for this city. I am hopeful that, in time, the news may catch wind of all my good works… ” End Satire… I don’t know of any church that would encourage their people to live in that way. However, for some reason, this is often how churches do outreach events within the community. If an individual was to do it, it’s pride. If a church does it, somehow it’s called “Good Exposure.” The better way would be to model humble and Christ-Centered outreach for our people.
Another common error that is easy for us to make is in the area of money. Have you every heard of the church that is calling for financial responsibility by their people, all the while going into more and more debt as a church? Yes, a church may be able to say, “Buying a home is better than renting a home, so let’s go in debt to build this building,” but there is a huge difference between a church building and a home. When someone buys a house through getting a mortgage, they are purchasing a home that most likely will retain its value. If the home is taken care of, then they can sell the home in a few years and even make a profit. A home is resealable because people buy houses and live in them. With a church building that is not always the case. When a church gets in debt, the pressure gets turned on. A church building is only valuable to that particular church. If the church folds, that building loses its value. Who buys empty, huge church buildings? So we must as a church be careful that we don’t give our people Larry Burkett and Dave Ramsey all the while doing things as a church that models the opposite.
One more area of hypocrisy that is easy to fall into is in the area of children’s ministry. If a church tells parents “You are the primary discipler of your children. The church is supplementary in everything we do for your kids.” Then it is imperative that the children’s ministry program communicates they same. If the children’s program makes Disney World look like the run-down city park, then the message the church receives will be inconstant. The churches children’s ministry often reveals the church’s real thoughts “We are the primary disciplers of your children. We are the professionals. We got this.” Pastor, this should not be.
The point is simple. The church as an organization needs function in a way that is consistent with how we are calling our people to function. Be consistent.
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