TV Program CURRENT EPISODE Thou Shalt Not Be a Religious Hypocrite SERIES: In Tables of Stone #4 of 11 2008-10-05 PRODUCTION #: 1123 SPEAKER: Shawn Boonstra If one thing that has becoming evident in the 21st century, it s that the world is getting just a little tired of religious know-it-alls who love to point their fingers at everybody else. And wouldn t you know it, when the cat gets out of the bag, it often turns out they were worse than the rest of us. And in this program, I ll show you what God has to say about that. He was one of the biggest televangelists in the history of religious broadcasting. By the mid-1980s, his weekly show was watched by millions of people all around the world. In fact, it s been estimated that about 8 million people watched him every single week, a number that s comparable to the crowd that now tunes into Rush Limbaugh every single day. And to be perfectly honest, this guy was almost as rich as Rush Limbaugh, too, because his ministry took in about $150 million a year as folks responded to his impassioned sermons, especially the ones against sexual immorality. In fact, when the whole PTL scandal broke out a couple of decades ago, this preacher had some pretty tough words for fellow TV evangelist Jim Bakker, who was caught trying to pay $265,000 worth of hush money to a woman he d been having an affair with. He called Bakker, A cancer in the body of Christ. And one year before that, he was also involved in uncovering the immorality of a fellow minister in his own denomination. His track record proves that he absolutely, uncompromisingly, unwaveringly battled against sin, with one tiny exception. He was really tough on other people, but on his own sins, well, it turns out he wasn t quite that tough. In fact, all the while, as he was preaching so vehemently against sexual immorality, it turns out that he was personally visiting prostitutes and looking at dirty pictures. And at the same time, he was leading the charge for stricter laws against pornography. Now, if you check the dictionary, there s actually a word for this kind of behavior, when you preach one thing and live another. And to be honest, a lot of the world is sick and tired of seeing it in the Christian church. It seems like every year we have a new scandal somebody who preaches against sexual immorality or the evils of money turns out to be doing it themselves. And again, the English dictionary has a word for that. I really don t want to stand in judgment on these people because in the final analysis only God can do that, but at the same time, as case after case gets spread across the evening news, we need to call it what it is one of the greatest of all human sins the sin of hypocrisy. I realize that hypocrite is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and you can use it to describe all sorts of behavior. I suppose that to some degree, at some time or another, everybody s been guilty. But the worst form of hypocrisy, the one that really stinks, is religious hypocrisy, that person who tries to disguise his or her own personal defects under the guise of holiness and self-righteousness. Frankly, the problem is so serious that the Bible deals with it in very specific terms. And there is a whole commandment in the moral code of God that deals with it. If you ve been following this program, you know that we ve been talking about the Ten Commandments, and as soon as you mention the Ten Commandments, somebody s eyebrows are going to go up because they don t understand why we talk about a subject like that. You mean that outdated, antiquated code of laws that are already thousands of years old? The answer is yes, and if you ve been watching the show, you re already discovering that those old commandments are far from being outdated, even for those of us living in the 21st century. On the contrary, those commandments are exactly what we need to really learn to live life successfully in the modern age. And just because they re really old doesn t mean they re really wrong. I mean, the
in the modern age. And just because they re really old doesn t mean they re really wrong. I mean, the practice of drinking water has been around for a very long time, but I doubt anybody would argue that drinking water has now become outdated or useless. We need it for human survival, and the same is true with God s moral laws. And in fact, as we continue with this series, you re going to see just how much better our lives would be if we just paid attention to God s instructions instead of making things up as we go along, or living according to the dictates of whatever the latest fad happens to be. It really does make sense to follow the Maker s directions. Now, I know that for some people reading this today, it s been a while since you really looked at the Ten Commandments. And right now some of you are trying to remember what all of them are. You know there are commandments against things like stealing, adultery, and murder, but you ve never noticed a commandment against religious hypocrisy. Exactly which commandment says thou shalt not be a religious hypocrite? Well, to be perfectly honest, none of them actually say that, at least not in those words, but you can find the principle buried in the third commandment, which reads like this (Exodus 20:7): You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Now, at first glance, most people believe that this is a commandment against using God s name like a curse word, and no doubt that s certainly part of it, but it s only a really small part of it. If you study it carefully, you ll find there s something much, much deeper here, and the deeper meaning is found in the one little word vain. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. What exactly does that mean? The Hebrew word for vain in this commandment basically means nothingness, vanity, emptiness or worthless. What it s saying is that you shouldn t take God s name in a worthless way. Don t use God s name, don t profess God s name as if it means nothing. Don t claim to be a follower of God unless you live like a follower of God. Don t go around using the name of God and all that it entails unless you re going to live like you mean it. Don t cover your personal sins in the name of a God who never, ever sanctions your sins. Don t defile the name of the Lord. In short, don t be a religious hypocrite. It s one thing when you hear stories about folks who do bad things and get caught, but when someone has a great privilege, a great responsibility, when they re caught doing those same things, it just seems that much worse. When some poor kid living on the wrong side of the tracks, without much hope for a better life, sticks up a liquor store, that s pretty bad. But when the son of the wealthiest man in town holds up the same liquor store, well, for some reason it just seems worse. And what the Bible is saying with this commandment essentially is this: if you are going to profess to be a follower of God, if you re going to cover yourself with the exalted mantle of His name, if you re going to be known as one of God s people, then be prepared to live like it. There s the story of this bank robber in Israel who, even though he was right handed, always held his gun in his left hand during a robbery, so as he walked out of the bank with the loot, he could still perform the pious act of touching the Mezuzah, a small object kept on doorposts to remind Jews of God s law. He wanted to touch it as he fled from the scene of the crime. Now, that s a great example of taking the name of the Lord in vain! Christian speaker, Tony Campolo, tells the story of being mugged at gunpoint, and after the robber took his wallet, he asked his victim, What kind of work do you do? And Tony answered, I m a Baptist minister. Oh, said the thief, you re a Baptist? So am I! Again, there s a brilliant example of taking the name of the Lord in vain. In the city of Rome, a man held a priest at gunpoint. Trying to calm the robber down, the priest asked him if he wanted a cigar. Oh, no, Father, he said, I can t do that because I ve given up smoking for Lent. The hypocrisy is obvious. He doesn t live what he believes, and that means he s taking the name of God in vain. I know this Christian who wanted to witness to his non-christian mother about Jesus. And so he tried to be the best example he could, always putting Jesus in the best possible light. Well, just when
he tried to be the best example he could, always putting Jesus in the best possible light. Well, just when he thought he was making some progress, his mother started going out with a mafioso. This guy would kill people, and yet every Sunday he not only went to church, but he insisted that my friend s mother go with him. You ve got to wonder, what s the point? That s just taking the Lord s name in vain. Let s be really honest. In the past few decades in America, there s been a pretty disturbing trend. Christians are starting to notice the level of morality in this country is sliding and it bothers them to the point where they want to take the reins of government and something about it. And of course, when it comes to the moral problems in society, I d have to agree. We really are slipping. But what s really disturbing is what the polls show about Christians themselves. In the areas of basic morality, lying, cheating, stealing and so on, professed Christians, the ones who take God s name, are doing exactly the same things. In fact, in some polls we ve discovered that practical morality among Christians is no better than the people who live around them. I even read one study basically making fun of Christians that showed when Christians meet for big conventions, more x-rated movies are rented in hotel rooms than when other groups meet. So what s my point? Instead of worrying about everybody else, maybe Christians need to start at home. Maybe we need to take a serious look at the third commandment. Think about how different things would be if everybody who claimed to be a Christian took the name of God on himself or herself. And really meant it. What would happen if Christians actually lived by the principles that Jesus taught? Just think about how much better our homes and marriages would be. Think about how much better our relationship would be with our kids and our coworkers and our friends if we only took on the name of God and lived it. I m guessing you were pretty horrified at the tragic killing of those five Amish schoolgirls back in the fall of 2006. The thought of those little girls in their long dresses and bonnets, just murdered in cold blood, really tears your heart out. And you have to wonder, how could anybody do that? But you know what really astounded me? What taught me an incredible lesson in living the Christian faith is that the same Amish people who were grieving over their children were calling for their own people to forgive the man who did it. Imagine, as the grandfather of one of those dead girls stood in front of her casket and said, We are teaching our young people not to think evil of this man. And in fact, some of the Amish people even attended the funeral of the killer. You heard me right, they went to the funeral, and more than that, some of them offered help and support to the wife and family of the gunman. What a powerful testimony to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I don t know for sure, but I imagine that the story of those Amish people forgiving the killer and reaching out to his family probably did more to advance the cause of Christianity than a thousand sermons preached on any topic. And try to imagine what our world would be like if everybody were just that forgiving. But then again, or on the other hand, look at the damage religious hypocrisy has done to the cause of Christ. I heard about a Christian who, years ago, befriended an old Jewish man. He grew very friendly with his new friend, and when he thought the time was right, he started to share something about Jesus. But as soon as he mentioned the name of Christ, the old man got cold and almost hostile. The Christian was confused. Have I offended you? he asked. Yes, said the old man, because when I lived in the old country, a group of churchgoing people came into our village and with the blessings of the priest, who wore a big cross on his neck. They started killing the men and sexually assaulting the women. I watched as my father was hung from a tree, and my own mother was violated, and they all claimed to be followers of Jesus, so please, spare me your Jesus. There s this story about Alexander the Great. He was told about a soldier who had been a coward in battle. Alexander the Great came to him and asked him his name. The man, with a sudden flash of hope said, My name is Alexander, just like yours, at which point Alexander the Great looked at him and said, Well, if you re going to act like that, then either change your name or live like someone who carries my name. Can you see why the third commandment is so important? There s a good reason that Jesus dealt with hypocrites so differently from other sinners. As you read the Bible, you find that He worked with a lot of people you might be tempted to call low-life people, like prostitutes and other outcasts. And yet,
of people you might be tempted to call low-life people, like prostitutes and other outcasts. And yet, without condoning what these people did, He still had better words for them than the religious hypocrites, the people who hid their sins under the robes of self-righteousness. Just listen to these words from Jesus and remember who the audience was. Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, not the lowest of the low, not the outcasts and not the criminals. He s talking to the religious establishment of his day. Here it is (Matthew 23:13-15): But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Wow, that s pretty direct. Even the evangelist who condemned Jim Bakker didn t talk like that, but you don t find the Gospels recording Jesus talking that way to prostitutes or thieves. This kind of language was reserved for those who took His name in vain. He condemned them for devouring the houses of widows, taking their property, but at the same time cloaking their deeds under a veneer of long prayers, as if their long prayers somehow negated the sinfulness of their actions. He rebuked them for performing all kinds of small religious rituals that supposedly made them look holy and pious, even though they neglected kindness, mercy and compassion. He chided them for their obsession with outward ritual cleanliness that accompanied the Jewish dietary laws, while on the inside their minds and hearts were full of greed and self-indulgence. All these men were, at the core, violating the third commandment. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. You shall not do wrong things while trying to cover it up in the name of God. A lot of you might remember that famous scene with Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, where the police inspector says to Bogart s character, I m shocked, shocked to know that there s gambling in your restaurant, or something to that effect. And at that very moment someone comes up to the police inspector and hands him some cash and says, Your winnings, sir. It s hypocrisy. But it s not a violation of the third commandment because he didn t do it as somebody who professed the name of God. Don t get me wrong, it s still wrong, but it s not the same thing. Taking God s name in vain refers to people who put on the veneer of godliness and live like the devil behind closed doors. It applies to people who claim to know God, but live like they re more familiar with the world. And Jesus talks about it in no uncertain terms in Matthew, the seventh chapter (Matthew 7:21-23): Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will says to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. These were people who called on the Lord and even supposedly did wonderful things in His name, but still, Jesus calls them workers of lawlessness inequity. The Greek word for inequity actually means that, it means lawlessness, and it means these people, even though they used God s name, they weren t obeying His law. That s hypocrisy, plain and simple. And that s only the first part of the commandment. After telling us not to take His name in vain, the Lord ends the commandment like this (Exodus 20:7): for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. That means in the end, you re not going to get away with it. The Lord will not hold him guiltless who uses His holy name as a cover for lawlessness. He will not hold him guiltless who uses His holy name to condemn others, and yet is guilty of the same sin they condemn. He will not hold him guiltless who takes God s holy name, but in that name commits actions that the Lord would never give His blessing to. And that s pretty serious stuff.
Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear. Personally, I m a minister, and for that matter, I m an evangelist. I publicly profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Every day I do things in the name of the Lord, but right up front I have to admit that I m also a sinner. I guarantee if you hold my life under the magnifying glass, you ll find something, and they say the same thing is true of you. But just because you re a sinner, it doesn t automatically make you a hypocrite. You see, the third commandment doesn t condemn you for not being all that you should be. It simply calls us to be the best we can through Jesus. But still, the best just isn t good enough and never will be, which is why I still need Jesus as my Savior. And I hope you can see the difference. Just because you aren t perfect, that doesn t make you a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is different. It s pretending to be more than you really are, so let s cut to the chase. The real issue you need to face right now, because you aren t perfect, is that God s perfect Son gave His life for you, and because of that, you can turn around. Right now Jesus offers you His perfect life instead of your imperfect one. Let your sins drive you to the cross, not away from it. For you, for anyone open to Jesus, there is forgiveness, healing and the chance for a new life, even for those who have violated this all-important third commandment. It s standing in Jesus, and admitting your mistakes. That s not hypocrisy; the Bible calls it eternal life. You know, Jesus really does offer us a new lease on life. Why don t we pray together? PRAYER: Lord, as we look at our lives, we can see that we have sinned and we understand that you offer forgiveness for that sin. Teach us as we take on the name of Jesus, to live like someone who knows Him, so that the rest of the world can also find Jesus by seeing Him in us, for we ask it in Jesus name, Amen. Scriptures Used in Thou Shalt Not Be a Religious Hypocrite You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Exodus 20:7 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23: 13-15 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will says to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Matthew 7:21-23 for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Exodus 20:7 Keywords: Shawn Boonstra ten commandments In Tables of Stone It Is Written Box O Thousand Oaks, CA 91359 USA Tel: (805) 433-0210 Fax: (805) 433-0218 Copyright 2010, It Is Written International Television. All rights reserved. Webmaster