YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE.

Words I heard God speak into my heart about a decision I made a few weeks ago in Portland, Oregon.  The worst part of hearing those words from God is when you happen to be a pastor who has committed his life to loving and serving the people God created.
 
It was Saturday and my wife, daughter and I were having lunch.  I had prepared a message and was pushing the clock a little and needed to get back to the church for our 5:00 service, so that I could tell people about God’s love.
  
After lunch, my wife wanted to quickly go into a nearby mall, and even though I was worried a bit about the time, I figured we could make it.
 
As I walked into this mall, I walked past a young, apparently homeless teenage girl (We have one of the highest populations of teen homelessness in the United States).  I can still remember to this day what she looked like.  I can also remember the question she asked me and the words I said back to her.
 
As I walked by her, she simply asked me the same question she was asking all who were passing by “excuse me, do you have any extra money for bus fare?”
 
I never even thought about it, just simply responded with “no.”  As I look back on those few seconds, her question was met with an answer that was almost arrogant and even rude.  I continued to walk toward the glass entry doors, but did not get 3 steps into the mall when I heard in my heart those words that were piercingly convicting...

YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE.
 
Check out the definition: Hyp-o-crite: “A person who pretends to be what he or she is not; or one who pretends to be better than he or she really is.”
 
Who would ever hope to be called a hypocrite?  We get our English word hypocrite from a Greek word Hupokrites that means “actor, stage player, pretender, or one that wears a mask.”  

Dallas Willard in his writings The Divine Conspiracy had this to say about the term hypocrite:

“Hypocrite is a term used by Jesus alone in the New Testament, and he uses it seventeen times.
 
The term hypocrite in classical Greek primarily refers to an actor, such as one sees on the stage, but it came to refer also to anyone who practices deceit. It is clear from the literary records that it was Jesus alone who brought this term and the corresponding character into the moral vocabulary of the western world.
 
When Jesus spoke of “the hypocrites,” he was utilizing a very vivid image that effectively seized the minds of his hearers because of their familiarity with stage characters. They were thus able to see much of the most obvious religious behavior of their day as the sham it in fact was.”

No one ever wants to be a pretender, but I think because we get so busy we can become what we would never want to be.
 
Activity can often times be mistaken for ministry.  We can look busy and not see what matters.  We can say what we believe, but our actions prove what we actually believe.  That was totally my story that Saturday in Portland.
 
The old adage is so true.  People do not care what you know until they know that you care.
 
The Bible says that GOD IS LOVE, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8
 
But what is love?
 
The Bible says “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18
 
Talk about convicting words.  Think about this.  I cannot prove you love God, or stated differently you cannot prove you love God.  But how you love people absolutely proves the reality of whether or not God’s love is in your life.
 
In other words, it’s not what I say that is love, but rather what I do about what I say that is love.
  
God doesn’t just say He loves us, but his love resulted in doing what was best for us.  LOVE IS COSTLY.  To not love simply costs you more, because you will miss a blessing from God.

I think the truth is most of us are just too busy and can’t see what matters.  To be interrupted and be available isn’t in the “schedule.”  I can be so busy trying to get somewhere, or get my agenda done that I miss where I am at right now.  I miss the opportunity in front of me.  As a student, I miss the person who just needs to know they matter.  I can plan so much that I have a tendency to plan God right out of my life.  For me, I see so much and yet sometimes fail to see anything.
 
And, the irony is we never try to think this way, it is just the result of thinking the wrong way.
  
If you like to take notes, write this down.
CLARITY ALWAYS PRODUCES URGENCY.

Also, when clarity is diminished, so is urgency.  Why we don’t act is so often because we talk ourselves out of being kind.  We - in essence - begin to judge and think we are better.
 
When will we truly get over ourselves?  When will we authentically stop the madness and slow down enough to SEE people and to serve people. When we lose urgency for what matters, we become less action orientated and more apathy orientated.
 
All of us have a little bit of “acting” in us, but my prayer for America is that acting turns to action.  I dare you to love your city, to serve your families and to simply see today what maybe you have been missing.
  
You can’t change the past.  I couldn’t take the words back that I so flippantly said to that girl.  But what we can do - and what I did do - was change. As I heard those words, I simply backed up, went and found this young girl, who parenthetically is younger than my daughter, looked into her eyes and simply said, “Here is $5.00, and I am sorry that I lied to you.”
 
She said “thanks” and I am so glad I listened to her words this time. I love that God is all about the second chance.  He wants to use you to do something. It seems like these days God is showing me that my mission is right in front of me.  It’s that one moment I have to slow down, to really see and then respond to the divine thing God is doing now.
 
LOVE IS ALL ABOUT ACTION AND NOT ABOUT ACTING.

If we aren’t loving through action, I would say we aren’t loving at all. Be the unlikely hero.  Do the one thing that is right today.  Don’t worry about who gets the credit.
 
For me, as a Christ Follower, the reality is: if I carry His name, I better imitate His character. Jesus clearly said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Mark 10:45
 
At times I get blown away at what happens at our church.  Occasionally we will get a call from someone to tell us that someone needs help.  Sometimes the first someone knows the second someone.  They call our church, almost as if there is a “someone” room, where people are just sitting and waiting to jump up and run out to serve.  I get frustrated because we just don’t get it.
 
FRIENDS, YOU ARE THE SOMEONE that God wants to use to change someone in your world.
 
Be that someone today!  As you slow down, you will begin to see what matters. In other words you will have clarity.  As clarity increases, so will urgency.  That’s just the way it works.
 
Instead of being a hypocrite, let’s be a hero in the life of someone today.
The ball is in your court.

		John Bishop is the Senior Pastor of Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington.  Pastor John planted Living Hope Church in 1996 which now runs 16 weekend services at 8 local sites in the Vancouver area.  Living Hope also has a campus in Hawaii and several international campuses in New Zealand, Philippines, and India.

© John Bishop all rights reserved.