Why Do So Many Non-Christians Perceive Christians to Be Such Hypocrites?

Reverend Marjorie Bevans

The Second Sunday after Pentecost 2026

Texts: Hosea 5:15-6:6, Matthew 9:9-13

In the Gospel lesson today, the Pharisees took the position that anyone who ate with tax collectors and sinners must be or would become a sinner themselves. Jesus who was living under the Law of Moses was openly violating it. The Pharisees seem to assume that they are not sinners, because at least they are not eating with tax collectors and sinners.

So, who were these Pharisees who so often clashed with Jesus? They were educated in the Law of Moses (like lawyers) and considered to be protectors of the Law (like judges). They taught the people (like teachers) and sometimes were consulted when people had disagreements (like counselors). It is believed that the word ‘Pharisee’ is derived from an ancient Hebrew word meaning ‘set apart’, which is similar to the meaning of ‘holy’, to be set apart for God. They were supposed to be holy men.

A few years ago I read the results of a longitudinal survey of non-Christians. 128,000 people were asked what kept them from seriously considering Christianity. The answer was ‘Christians’. The number one reason by far, receiving 47% compared to the next highest reason with 23%, was the perceived hypocrisy of Christians. Ouch. People who are perceived to be telling other people how to live without living up to those same standards appear to be hypocrites. ‘Rules for thee, but not for me’—an old aphorism my mom used to say. Jesus often confronted this in his conversations with the Pharisees. Our words don’t mean anything to someone else if they are not consistent with our behavior. We Christians must always strive to be people of integrity. Otherwise, the Lord we proclaim to love and follow will not be taken seriously.

Why do so many non-Christians perceive Christians to be such hypocrites?

When I was a young adult, I would have responded “Because Christians are at least trying to live by a higher standard, even if they sometimes stumble.” But I’m not so sure a lack of Christ-like perfection is what non-Christians are seeing. I wish the survey had a follow-up question or two about what makes so many non-Christians think Christians are such hypocrites. A large part of it might be that non-Christians don’t understand Christianity at all. Fewer and fewer people in each generation have any real exposure to it. People may believe it’s more like a philosophy than a relationship with the living God.

What can we do? If a Christian occasionally stumbles while trying to follow Christ, it must be accompanied with a sense of guilt or contrition, repentance, confession, and improvement. What if we were known by someone to be a Christian, but we never seem to admit we are sometimes wrong and we should apologize? In psychology we would say such a person is not very self-aware. In spiritual terms we would say such a person is being impenitent, but to a person who is not a practicing Christian, it looks like hypocrisy. For our Christian witness to have integrity, we don’t need to be perfect. We need to be honest and humble. We don’t want to be Pharisees, pointing out the splinter in someone’s eye, while ignoring the log in our own. In addition to being honest and humble, we need to better understand what God is asking from us. The prophet Hosea tells us that the Lord desires true communion, not superficial sacrifice. “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” The Pharisees were good at keeping the Letter of the Law, but they did not understand the Spirit of the Law—why God gave it. They gave God burnt offerings rather than their hearts.

How do we better understand what God is asking from us? We must be engaged in the study of Scripture. We learn there why God created us, how he loves us, and the purpose for our lives. We also study particularly the New Testament, the teaching of Jesus and the Letters of Paul. And when we pray, we come into the presence of God so we can be changed by it, to be made more Christ-like. Many of us regularly practice certain types of prayers—intercession for others, petition for ourselves, but the kind of prayer that forms us is simply listening to God. God speaks to our hearts and minds when we stop talking and just put ourselves in his presence. It is also in these times that God corrects us, and we can acknowledge to him our shortcomings. Prayers of adoration, oblation—offering our whole selves to God, and contemplation are most helpful. If we engage in this simple discipline of study and prayer, we might be better prepared to respond to the challenges of the world—to evil, suffering, and confusion. We might be better witnesses for Christ.

The Pharisees may have had confidence in their knowledge of the Law, but because they did understand why the Law was given—to show us how to love God and love others, too often their confidence became arrogance. There is a difference between the two. Arrogance comes from trusting in oneself. Yet, we can be confident in God while being humble, because trusting God causes us to be humble. We come to realize that God is God, and we are not. We accept our proper relationship with God. We are less likely to be arrogant, more likely to be humble.

So, I believe the best way to avoid being seen as a hypocrite and a better witness for Christ, is not to be a more perfect Christian—although that wouldn’t hurt, but rather, to be a more humble Christian. Then, as Peter writes in his First Letter, ‘In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” We must be able to explain what we believe in our hearts, out of genuine affection for the other person.

Amen.

Does God See Us as an Ant Colony? The 8th Sunday after Pentecost 2025

The 8th Sunday after Pentecost 2025

Texts: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12;13-21

The Reverend Marjorie Bevans

Watch the service and listen to the sermon on Youtube.

This morning we have a rare lesson from Ecclesiastes, so it might be helpful to know a little about the book itself before looking at the lesson. The name Ecclesiastes comes from the Hebrew word Qoholoth meaning ‘assembly’. The same word in Greek is ‘ecclesia’, which gives us the name Ecclesiastes. It is not a sermon, but seems to be a teaching for a gathering of Jewish people.

It is a Jewish book, sometimes attributed to King Solomon, and so the book is considered to be one of the works of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. It most likely dates from around 300 b.c.

The great theme of the book is vanity, and our lesson for this morning is one of the key passages in the whole book. The term ‘vanity of vanities’ is a Hebrew form of a superlative. ‘Vanity of vanities’ therefore means ‘utter vanity.’

Vanity is anything that is light, airy, floating, transitory, feathery, or shifting. Being vain is like chasing a bubble. It’s appearance attracts a child, but it cannot be possessed. When touched, it pops. It is like a mirage in the desert. We cannot put our ultimate trust in vanity, yet many do.

All three lessons this morning suggest putting our trust in God, not the things of creation. In the first lesson everything for which we toil and enjoy cannot be our ultimate goal. To collect things for our sustenance gives a false sense of security, so why worry so much about stuff. We are to rely ultimately on God. This is not to say we are not to be concerned at all about the things which sustain us, because we were also created to be stewards of creation and to use the things of creation. They just cannot become our ultimate concern.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul declares to that early Christian community, that since they have been raised with Christ, they are no longer to seek the things of the world, but the things that are above where Christ is. The old ways of life—anger, wrath, malice, slander, deception and abusive language must pass away if one is to be truly renewed in Christ. The attraction of earthly things, with which these vices are associated, is not the way of life or the goal of life for a Christian. And this applies to all Christians equally whether slave or free, Greek or Jew, rich or poor. God does not consider station in life, or the superficial—skin color, ethnicity, or the external appearance of anyone, but only what is in the heart and mind of someone. We may fool one another about what is in our hearts and minds, but we do not fool God.

In the Gospel lesson Jesus warns the people about greed of all kinds. The rich man who had the abundant harvest built new barns to keep it so that he could have it and live off it for years. As a kid who grew up on a farm, I’ve always thought the idea was a little ridiculous anyway, because most crops do not keep that long. They will spoil, mice will get into them. But the rich men thought he would have life easy for a few years.

There are different kinds of greed—being overly concerned with getting our needs met—worrying, wanting to have or possess something that is not ours—coveting, when more and more is never enough—hoarding, the competitive desire to have more than we truly need in order to best someone. They used to call it ‘keeping up with the Jones’.

We have heard the call of God at St. Michael’s to help needy people where we can through our outreach ministries. We participate in the distribution of food, we gather the things children need for school, we support a Christian school in Guatemala, and we offer scholarships to students from poor families. We recognize the importance of sustenance and encouraging children to have a brighter future through education.

In my last parish we developed an important outreach ministry to children. We called it The Neighborhood Academy. Children from families living around the church came together on Saturdays to meet adults who had a profession, to interview them and learn from them, so they could dream and plan for their future as adults. The children met firefighters, nurses, police officers, musicians, doctors, chefs, teachers, and EMT’s. They found out what it takes to have a profession—things like getting up in the morning and going to school or work, being honest and reliable, setting goals, working hard, being focused and determined. They learned the satisfaction that can come from accomplishing something. We warned our guest professionals that the children would ask them about money, how much they earned, so they should be prepared to tell the children. Coming from poor families, in which the adults did not work, the children often did want to know about this important detail.

Yet, we welcomed a lot of children whose basic needs were going unmet, so we taught them how to prepare a basic meal for themselves, like how to heat a can of soup, make a grilled cheese sandwich, how to scramble an egg. We gave them food to take home. We helped their families stay in their homes, we clothed them, paid their utilities when needed. Through our rummage sale ministry were able to give families everything they needed for their household.

However, sometimes out of their neediness, some of the children would become a little greedy. They would loudly claim that someone got more than their fair share. They wanted more and more to take home.

Perhaps we had inadvertently created in them the expectation that having enough food and stuff would make them feel safe and secure. We wanted them to have what they needed, but did they know that we did this out of love? How could we teach them about the love God has for them and encourage them to seek the things that are above when their basic needs were so often unmet? How could we build loving relationships with these children when their lives were so chaotic and they moved so often?

Sometimes I think God is looking down on the whole world and what He sees is a bit like an ant colony, people hurrying to and fro, carrying things around urgently, following one another mindlessly, all geared toward the survival of the colony. If you’ve every been stuck in traffic on the beltway around D.C., perhaps you’ve felt you were in an ant colony!

However, ants were not created in the image of God, with a mind, heart and soul meant to seek and love God. When we neglect to pay attention to God, the reason for our existence, we might be more like ants than humans. Our ultimate security is found in God who created our lives and sustains them.

If we live by faith in God, we will be thankful and find it easy to be generous with others. When someone wants to know where is the glory of God to be found in this world, I would suggest it is to be found in the darkest places where followers of Christ are ministering to the sick, the friendless, and the needy, in places among people who see little good or hope. There we were day after day loving God’s children by trying to help them. We love them first, because God loved us first.

Over time and with many challenges we can hope we have learned to trust God. Only God is reliable. What ails humanity most is spiritual poverty, and emptiness that nothing can fill—not wealth, or food, or power, or accomplishment, or even family and friends. All these things are a vanity, they can disappear like a bubble when trying to possess it. When we neglect our personal relationship with God, we are more susceptible to the temptation to seek the things that are beneath God. Our aim is too low. In order to help others see God in their lives, we might need to reconnect to Him ourselves, and find Him to be the source of everything we truly need to be fully human. Amen.