I grew up under the laws of Roman Catholicism, and what bothered me more than anything when I got to an age where I began to question my "religion" was the hypocrisy of those who called themselves Christians who attended church each week faithfully (for according to Catholicism, it was a mortal sin if you did not), and then throughout the week acted as if that one hour in church hadn’t existed. It was comparable to a Jekyll & Hyde ceremony each week. I was one of those Jekyll & Hyde prototypes for quite some time growing up, and the hypocrisy that some of us church goers portrayed was unbelievable.

Hypocrisy is basically a simulation; a feigning to be what one is not; assuming a false appearance. Thus, it is a lie. This is just exactly what I and many others did weekly in the name of Christianity. I would dress up and be a good Christian for an hour each week to "absolve my sins" and make myself look good with others, and then go out the rest of the week and succumb to sin. The mere fact that I had attended church served to appease my conscience and gave me the "right" of absolution of my sins so that I could go out and do it all over again the next week. Or so I thought. Little did I realize that going to church was not the absolution that would take away my sins, nor was the confession to the priest going to take care of them all either. It was, and continues to be, a vicious circle.

Not everyone who attends a Catholic church acts in this manner, and it is not exclusive to Roman Catholicism. As I attend more and more Protestant churches, I am finding it doesn’t really matter the "religion". Whether it be in Catholic or Protestant churches, one can still find the same hypocrisy prevalent at times within the walls of the church.

We could say that this happens in churches that don’t really speak the Truth that God says in His Word, but unfortunately, even when the Truth of the Word is spoken within the walls of the church, hypocrisy of the saints still reins on a grand scale sometimes. Actions don’t match up to words, at least not God’s Word. Some may even lead a double life in order for others not to "find out" about the sin in which they are engaged. Sometimes the "sins" may not seem as reprobate on the outside. For instance, it may not be something as seemingly immoral as an adulterous affair, although that still happens in biblical churches too. But consider some examples that may not seem as hurtful, such as cliques that exist in the Christian circles where one has to be in the "in" crowd in order to be accepted. Or times when people are looked down upon because of the way they dress or the amount of money they make. Surely, these are not the examples that Christ gave us. In both types of churches, Catholic or Protestant, is it any wonder that so many have a false notion about what true Christianity is by our very own actions?

Granted, even born-again believers in Jesus Christ are still sinners. Just because we accept Christ in our lives doesn’t mean the fleshly side of our existence leaves us. Until we go to see our Savior Jesus in Heaven, we will always battle our flesh and sin. We need to realize this fact and understand that Christians don’t become "perfect" when they become Christians and desire a relationship with Christ. However, what I am speaking about here is the difference between two types of sinners. Both speak out about the Truth in the Bible and may even "pound the pulpit" so to speak, about what’s right and what’s wrong. But one intentionally sins and has no feeling of conviction because of their sin or if they do feel conviction, they don’t really care and continue in their sin anyway. The other is the sinner who transgresses God’s will and feels deep sorrow for sinning against their Lord. Let’s face it. We will all continue to sin as long as we live in these bodies upon this earth, but there is a need to distinguish the motives of our hearts.

Once we strip away the masks of hypocrisy, and put up the mirror so that it bares our soul and who we really are, then we will be able to stand before God and others and admit our guilt and the fact that we are sinners. How very hard this is to do when we do not yield our very souls to Jesus Christ Himself. But when we do, then we have glorious freedom for the forgiveness of our sins, we can become transparent for others to see and learn from our mistakes, and we’ll learn accountability in our lives so that we don’t step through the gates of sin again and again and again, or if we do, we’ll quickly leap back into the presence of Christ.

Consider hypocrisy. The words you speak, the thoughts you think, the actions you do–are they glorifying to the Master, or do you lead a double life? Rather than yield to hypocrisy, may you yield to Christ. Have you checked your heart lately?