Don't Trip Over Hypocrites!!!

Most men have made up their minds to keep control of their own lives. They purpose to do just as they please. The only law they recognize is the law of their own desires, and it's a matter of little or no concern to them whether or not these desires are in harmony with the law of God.

A short time ago, I asked a man if he were a Christian; he swelled up a bit around the chest and answered, "Well, I am not the worst man in the world. I pay my honest debts. I'm a respectable citizen. I'm a moral man in every sense of the word. What is more, I don't make a hypocrite out of myself by pretending to be what I am not, as so many of your church members do." (I have run into many people who use the excuse they can't go to church because it is full of hypocrites; however, they have no problem joining other hypocrites at work, at a family gathering, at the ball park, at the race track, in the shopping mall, at the grocery store, at McDonalds, at Wal-Mart, etc.).

I give just a few remarks about these hypocrites who seem to be bothering a good many people outside the church.

1. What other men are has nothing to do with what you ought to be.
2. It is true that we do have some hypocrites in the church (hypocrites are people, and people make up the church); but if you will promise not to get angry at a bit of humor that has a lot of real truth in it, it might not be amiss for me to say that we got them all from your side and you ought not be too hard on us for having them.
3. You know this is true; if you will gather the church crowd on one side and the world crowd on the other, then shut your eyes and reach out and gather five hundred at random, the church crowd will - when it comes to law-abiding citizenship, decency, honesty, and honor in general and all finer points that go to make up a character that God approves and man respects - outshine the world crowd as the blazing noonday sun outshines the palefaced moon.
4. A hypocrite is the best recommendation genuine Christianity can possibly have. Did you ever see a counterfeit penny? No! Why? Because it isn't worth counterfeiting. Did you ever see a counterfeit dollar? Yes! Why? Because its value makes it worth counterfeiting. Did you ever see a counterfeit infidel? No! Why? Because infidelity is not worth counterfeiting. Did you ever see a counterfeit Christian? Yes! Why? Because there's a value in genuine Christianity that makes it worthwhile, for selfish reasons, to imitate. It is the genuine Christian that God wants you to be.

Excerpt from sermon "Why Morality Cannot Save Anyone" by William Edward Biederwolf (1867-1939)