Behind the generous smile and warm, friendly eyes, the dagger lurks concealed in the hand right as the left pleads friendship. Real or imagined, but such is the believer who professes Christ while waiting with cat-like patience to strike when the victim is least expecting. The dividing tongue, the malicious backbiter, the gossip, the whisperer, and the accuser cannot all be blamed on the evil one, but also upon the evil within the heart. And far too many of those calling themselves Christians have made great use of the destructive tongue in betraying those who trusted them. And hearts feel the pain as the blade slices through the trust and friendship that was once declared true and inviolable.
Many of us have felt this violation of trust, many of us have become bitter for periods of time and sought refugee from the pain and betrayl. And many of us have stumbled and fallen because of brethren who felt the need to press the hot iron into another brother or sister for reasons weakly justified. I know this to be true from personal experience, and from others who have had to endure the merciless tongues from brethren who do not understand what perfect love is in Christ. Is sin broken down into tiny, small, big, or huge? Are we called to destroy and consume one another because we want to justify our righteousness or have we attained salvation because of our pretentious good deeds?
Indeed, there are those who do believe just that and act upon the stage of hypocrisy to appear righteous in the eyes of the weaker brethren even as they condemn the struggling one who had placed their trust in them. Such is the perfidious face of hypocrisy in the body of Christ. And that should not be.
When a brother or sister has stumbled into sin and is struggling to overcome it, they turn to another for guidance and in friendship. But what happens when that one they turned to turns against them by exposing their struggles to others? It has become sin which places them squarely in the block of the accuser, the one with a beam in the eye, the one who claims to have the light while walking in darkness, the one praying so that all can hear, and the one that is shooting the flamimg arrow into the hapless believer. Such treachery and evil, and that is comimng from an unrepentant heart, from one who is not walking in love, but rather in condemnation.
When the adulteress was brought before the Lord trembling for she knew what was about to happen, and she was terrified, no words of condemnation passed his lips, but the few words he spoke convicted her accusers, and she lived another day.
When he spoke with the woman at the well who was living with a man in sin, he drew her to Him, He did not drive her away, and as a result, she believed in him and the village people as well.
When the Lord met Saul on the road to Damascus, Saul was a known executioner of the first Christians. He believed and became Paul, a servant of Christ.
When the man who had been sleeping with his father’s wife repented, he was brought back into the church.
Don’t you understand that the Lord desires mercy, and not condemnation? Forgiveness instead of accusations! The most vile person that you know can become the most powerful witness for Jesus, but when you cannot control your tongue and cause that person harm whom Jesus has called, then you will reap the consequences of your lack of love and haughty spirit. Who are you to decide who is worthy enough for the Lord? Did he ask of your counsel? Your opinion? Did he appoint you as judge over the brethren? Did He grant you the right to judge another and issue punishments?
You hypocrites! Stop acting as though you have been given spiritual authority when you can’t control your tongues and and itching ears! There is a communication device from man to man which does not require the Spirit of God, but more the whispering tongue and wagging ear. And then you have the audacity to claim the Spirit of God has revealed this or that to you, thereby deceiving others to be a judge over the brethren! You hypocrites!
A friend once told me that his pastor cast out a few believers who believed that the earth was flat. Was that truly a justifiable reason to condemn the weak and humiliate them before others or was it an act of open hypocrisy in defiance against the teachings of our Lord? On another occasion, I was told to step back from leading a prayer group because I had attacked the anointed of the Lord. No, I had opposed his attempt to control the prayer group by appointing leaders to oversee and control the meetings. I was therefore forced out by the weaker brethren, and pushed out of the church. Hypocrisy has its companion in self-righteousness. That same pastor was forced out of his position about six weeks later by the same weak believers, but the reinstated after a period of time, again, by the same weak brethren. Utter foolishness of men, and overseers of nonsense and unforgiving hearts.
Hypocrisy practiced makes a farce out of the faith, and turns believers into hardened career activists of self-righteous judges who will, at liberty, condemn the other, and use their weaknesses to their advantage. This is not walking as the Scriptures teach us, but this is making a mockery, a spectacle of Christ, and putting Him, and the faith to an open shame. When we claim that we love Him, and yet despise the brethren for whom He died also, then we make oursleves out to be liars and the truth is not in us. We are condemning ourselves as wicked in our thoughts and dealings with others, and if we do not repent, then the wrath of God will come upon our heads in full measure.
Hypocrisy is the deadliest poison because it works in conjunction with the heart and tongue to despise the brethren in Christ, and is a valuable tool in the devil’s hand to divide and scatter another flock. And will you serve the evil one through your cruel acts of mercy? This should not be! We are called to love one another and to esteem the other more than ourselves. The Word lays out very clearly how a believer must conduct themselves, but, many have neither read or have been taught the Christian walk, which is a walk of Godliness in Christ. We are to love as God loves us, and not as the world loves. The world offers you symbols, flags, ornaments, whereas God offers you Jesus Christ who transforms the heart and mind and turns the believer into a disciple. So, why would you want to destroy his creation because of your hard and unrepentant heart? Take the beam out of your eye before you try to remove the speck in your brother’s eye.
Produce fresh waters to strengthen the weaker ones instead of condemming them, and let the fruits of the Holy Spirit show where your hearts are at. Put aside all malice and hypocrisy, and serve one another in the bonds of love. Forgive from the heart and recieve the repentant sinner and backslider into the flock where they can be nourished with the Word and fellowship of the brethren. The Lord Jesus did not suffer for you alone, but took upon Himself the sins of the entire world, and one lost soul is of great value to Him, So, cease from your hypocrisy and set aside the poisonous tongues and serve one another with gentleness, kindness, meekness, and humility. Love the Lord and the brethren and uphold the Word in truth.
I remain a brother to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Edward L Ordway
