Is That Finger Point Hypocrisy?

<<<***Disclaimer***>>> As with most and many of the sins I write on I am guilty of most or many of them to a greater or lesser extent. Just because I am saved in Christ doesn't mean I became instantly perfect, that's not the way it works people. Far from it. When I write I try not to be overbearing to the reader or pass myself off as a holier than thou. I of all people realize my wretched condition. I am not purposely trying to stand in critical judgement.

I am trying to proclaim God's truth. I am basing most if not all of my statements as firmly as possible in the divine mandates of the Holy Bible.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and(E) discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

I am often times trying to do a compare-contrast between what I see in the world and what is correctly interpreted from the Bible based in time-honored hermeneutics and the guidance by the Holy Spirit. I am trying to be discernful as the Bible exhorts us to be discernful.

Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

If I based decisions posted in this blog on my own opinions this Christian blog would not be a Christian blog at all and would be no different than a secular and hypocritical Dear Abby or Dr Phil. I would stop being a good Christian and become a hypocritical modern-day Pharisee or huckster. They would be the judgments of a sinful and wretched man, and that my friends is not a person who should pass judgment on anyone

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. ~Matthew 7:3-5

I too often find myself doing the things I do not want as Paul did in the 1st Century. It is the issue that is as old as sin itself.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:15-20

The human struggle with sin. The desire to do the right things but the caving in of the flesh to do the wrong things. To know the difference and see it in others but not in ourselves. Hypocrisy. This is why I (and we) need to turn it over to Christ. When presented with situations where the "flesh" as the ability to get the upper hand we are always bound to loose the battle...unless Christ is firmly in us and on our side. It is an amazingly thin line that we walk between exposing truth and the truth exposing us. We should never rely on our own volition.

In some cases it won't matter to the world or even other Christians whether or not we call them out on their behavior even after we did so to ourselves first. They just see it as finger-pointing no matter what. Unfortunately for them they have then become guilty of the same thing they are thinking. They are judging without knowing for sure and that...is hypocritical. They do not care whether or not you are (# 1) Judging based on the absolute moral standard of the Bible or (#2) Judging based on your own faulty human opinions. The Christian worldview requires us to adhere to the Biblical worldview (#1) not the world's viewpoint which is subject to ambiguity (#2)...but to the world and we cannot see the difference...UNLESS they hear AND see the message from us and in us.

The Lord finds hypocrites vile.

For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. Isaiah 32:6

Hypocrites are self-righteous.

Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Isaiah 65:5

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. Luke 18:11

Hypocites are bad actors and are fooling no one except themselves.

For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?" ~Isaiah 58:2-5

We must not be so much preachers as we should be practicers of God's righteousness and commandments.

"My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice." Ezekiel 33:31-32

We must always remember that our actions are a direct reflection of Christ who is within us. When we surpress the Spirit and continue chosing to do the wrong things we suppress the grace God is giving us and taking it for granted. The Bible specifically tells us not to sin to allow grace to abound (Romans 12). We are to put on the "new man" and move forward in our new life.

If you & I are hypocrites and continue to practice hypocrisy we heap and build up wrath upon oursleves.

For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. Job 15:34

But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them. Job 36:13

I guess in the end we need to ask ourselves a question. Can we be discerning and help others towards Christ without pointing fingers in their face? Can we show them their sin compassiobately without pointing fingers at them and humiliating them? Can rebuking be done in love and not in misguided zeal? If you can, let me know. I still struggle with this one a lot. Like I said, I know the truth and can see certain sins in others but I often fail to see it in myself. It is hard to ask for forgiveness of sin when you don't always realize it is sin or can't see the sin. This is why I pray that the Lord reveal the sins I can't see to me so I can seek repentance for them. These sins are the ones that cause the most damage. Its like rust on the underbody of your car. By the time you see it it has permeated the entire framework and body.