IS THE PREACHER A HYPOCRITE?
The Church is often portrayed as being "full of hypocrites". I know that is not true. I know that many of my friends are the genuine article. Of course there are hypocrites in Churches right around the planet just as there are inany and every place and organization you care to name.
My question is this: "Are there hypocrites in the pulpits of our Churches?" I fear the answer is "Yes" and, to be deadly honest, there are times when, as a Pastor or Preacher, I feel like a hypocrite.
So that we are on the same page, let's agree about the meaning of the word, "hypocrite". Originally the word was used about actors who would cover their faces with masks so as to present a different persona. i.e. pretending to be something or someone that they were not - which is what actors do anyway! At first the word was morally and functionally neutral. But it came to have a very negative meaning and today there are few (if any) words that wound like this one.
Next Sunday I am to preach on a subject that I find personally convicting. It's not that I don't believe what I will teach. Rather my sense is that I don't practice what I will preach to the degree that I know I should and could.
Hence my question about the hypocrites in the pulpit.
Could I be accused of hypocrisy because I am preaching and (hopefully) persuading the members of my congregation to do what I am failing to accomplish that which I want them to do?
So, where am I up to as I wrestle with the emerging inevitable questions about authenticity and integrity?
[1] To defuse or minimize the possibility of pretence, I need to own before the congregation the reality of my short-comings regarding my subject material. I think they will be receptive to such a confession if I am genuine in my confession and perhaps they will be more willing for us to walk and grow together around that theme.
[2] Of course, such an acknowledgement must be about a subject that is suitable and appropriate for that group of people. There are some subjects that would be too volatile to address in the setting of Sunday morning and such themes would be better addressed within the security and confidentiality of a few trusted friends to whom were we willing to become accountable.
[3] To go public about this area of short-coming may well help the members of our Church to see us (Pastors and leaders) as very much part of the human race! Like it or not, there are those to whom we minister week by week who believe that we "have it altogether" when it comes to living the Christian life. To acknowledge growth areas (weaknesses) in our lives may well have the "spin off" benefit of making us more accessible to them - in their eyes, at least.
[4] I used to think that a confession or acknowledgement of that kind would cause people to be disappointed with us and that would diminish our acceptance with them. For those who would respond like that, I say that the sooner they face their disappointment the better because that is who I am that . Trying to live up to the false and unreasonable expectations that others may have of me involves exhausting effort. But to be open and authentic liberates me.
So, am I being a hypocrite if next Sunday I preach on this theme? I choose to believe that the answer is "No" - so long as I make it clear that, while I believe in the absolute truth of what I am saying, I am still not satisfied that I am experiencing that truth to the degree that I want to personally and that I want for my fellow believers.
