Holy Hypocrite!

“No, the church isn’t full of hypocrites; we always have room for more. — Rich Mullins

The accusation of hypocrisy is among the top reasons Christians today resist joining God in the work He is doing. How can we? We are overwhelmed by our past mistakes, current shortcomings and the fear of failures down the road. What right do we have to join God in the work He is doing? We will only be parading ourselves as hypocrites!

I, personally, have wallowed in this lie far too often. I started out as a youth minister, missionary in Pakistan, and ran various ministries funded through public speaking for years…until, 2008 the economy tanks. No one hired professional speakers and I had to get a “real” job. What I didn’t expect was the blowback from other Christians. Never anything blatant. Just subtle comments about “leaving the ministry” and “not trusting in Christ.” It weighed on me. I was a failure. I was a hypocrite.

For too long, I wallowed in the mire I thought was a road to a new way of living. Really it was just a mire that robbed me from the life God called me to live. It wasn’t the job. It wasn’t my friends. It wasn’t the theology. It was me that was wrong!

I had lost focus. I had thought, at one point, God needed me. And now that I “wasn’t doing what God needed,” I was sure He didn’t need me or want me.

What arrogance to believe that God needed me! That is the mark of a true hypocrite. It is completely at odds with the theological truth of the Bible: “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” (Acts 17:25)

God never needed me! I needed Him.
God never needed my work! I needed to join Him in His work.
God never said I could do it! He said He would do it.
God never depended on me! I depended on Him…until I didn’t.
God never gave up on me! What will my response be?

Every Christian is a hypocrite. By definition the term means “a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs” (The Britannica Dictionary). How can any Christian be anything other than a hypocrite? We profess the truth of the Bible. Yet, there has only been one person who ever lived the Christian life and that is Jesus. Period. Full stop. No exceptions.

So, where does this leave us? In humility.

No matter your job. No matter your position. No matter what is going on in your life today (for good or ill), God doesn’t need you! The focus should never be on you. The outcome shouldn’t be dependent on you. God doesn’t need you! BUT HE EARNESTLY DESIRES YOU! And you and I most definitely need Him.

Paul ends Hebrews (13:20-21) with this encouragement, “Now may God…make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Emphasis added)

It is all about Him. It is all His work and He will complete it. And when we join Him, it is still His work that He is completing… but what a blessing He is willing to complete it through us if we are willing.

A true hypocrite is someone (me, many times) who believes that God needs them and they are able to do something for God.

A Holy Hypocrite is simply someone who the world sees as being unable to live the Christian life…and they are right. But that someone doesn’t let the accusation stop them. They readily admit they can’t live the Christian life they profess, but they know the One who can. They actively open themselves up to join God in the work He is doing, not because God needs them, but because they need God.

A Holy Hypocrite understands that if you look at me, all you’re going to see is just a hypocrite. I can’t live up to God’s standard of perfection. But, they do everything they can to focus people on Christ.

We all get lost along the way at times. I certainly have. However, I’m reminded of Rich Mullins words on hypocrisy, ‘“No, the church isn’t full of hypocrites; we always have room for more.”

I’m tired of living amidst gloom and doom cast beneath the cloud of hypocrisy. I just want to join God in the work he is doing. Not because He needs me, but because I need Him. What about you? Want to join me? I’ve got nothing to offer, but I know where we can look!

“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” — John 6:28-29

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.