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A Prerequisite for Membership
- 09/04/10
- 18
I have been reading a lot of R.C. Sproul lately, partly for work and partly for pleasure. This week I made my way through Reason to Believe, “a response to common objections to Christianity.” One of the common objections to the faith is that Christians are a bunch of lousy hypocrites, people who call out other people for being sinners, but who still sin themselves. Here is how Sproul answers this:
What happens is that people observe church members sinning. They reason within themselves, “That person professes to be a Christian. Christians aren’t supposed to sin. That person is sinning; therefore, he is a hypocrite.” The unspoken assumption is that a Christian is one who claims he does not sin. It reality just the opposite is the case. For a Christian to be a Christian, he must first be a sinner. Being a sinner is a prerequisite for being a church member. The Christian church is one of the few organizations in the world that requires a public acknowledgement of sin as a condition for membership. In one sense the church has fewer hypocrites than any institution because by definition the church is a haven for sinners. If the church claimed to be an organization of perfect people then her claim would be hypocritical. But no such claim is made by the church. There is no slander in the charge that the church is full of sinners. Such a statement would only compliment the church for fulfilling her divinely appointed task.
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Comments (18)
Ahh, Sproul. He’s so good at getting the point across.
Tim, Do you believe that the current “relevance” and “reformed” movements within the church are making this truth more prominent, or is this a case of misperceptions among non-believers that will never really be overcome in a post-modern world?
(Any other reader is welcome to comment as well! I’d love to hear opinions!)
Thank you. Very timely comment.
Great quote, thank you Tim.
I think another reverse “mis-attribution” for the macro (and too convenient) view of “Christians as hyprocrites” is the simple reality that there are many nominal “Christians” out there in the public sphere who proclaim themselves as Christians, but clearly do not exhibit biblical and Christ-centered lifestyle, words or deeds (e.g., President, professional athletes, media personalities, etc.). And all this does is provide tons of additional ammo for unbelievers to say, “See? Told you.”
My wife and I worship at R.C.’s church and I can confirm that we are all sinners.
You said it, so I’ll just agree. :D
That was intended as a reply to Jeff.
“You are a hypocrite” is a voice almost all Chritians hear in the back of their heads now and then when their failings come to light in the secrecy of their lone minds. I have struggled with this line of lie from the devil who often uses such accusing language to sap away faith in the Lord out of well meaning Christians. One day the Lord showed me the truth as revealed in the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus said in that parable that the Father saw the prodigal son while still far away in the, ran to meet him and then ordered the royal robe to put on him BEFORE he had had a chance to shower and clean up even though he had been living in a pig pen literally. Dirty feet, manure clogged finger nails, horrible stence of inccorigible odour, still unshaven and probably swirling with bad breath and you name it - but none mattered to the Father once the DECISION had been made by the son while still in that pig pen to return to his Father. The motivation to clean-up and live the palace live as a prince inevitably had to follow in the light of such breathtaking, non-judgemental, and totally underserved acceptance once it dawns on that son how much his Father loves him. Yet you can bet that before entering the palace gate that son, fully cover in a royal robe,must have heard the same voice from the devil most Christians often hear from the devil: “Who are you kidding? Beneath that glittering robe I can still see the same old rot.” But believing that lie would make that son feel like a fraud. On the other hand, accepting the Father’s love will restore in him the sense of royalty, privilege and, in this prodigal son’s case, humble gratitute.
I am cloaked in a royal robe now; we all are once we believe on the son of God and receive the power to become children of God accroding to Jihn 3:16. Yes, I have yet to enter the royal palace when I cross this life to be with my Lord. In the mean time I will walk with confidence, notwithstanding the occasional bad odour coming from what lies beneath the robe my Father has cast over me. I am not a fraud; not at all. I am a child of God the Almighty through faith in the Son, the Lord Jesus. This understanding has helped me with the age old lie from the father of all lies - the Devil- that I am a hypocrite when dirt is found on me when some looks at me.
This why I say Sproul got it right.
Saying you have to be perfect in order to become a Christian is like saying you have to clean up before you can have a bath.
RC always has some wisdom from above for us.
I am a hypocrite, and yet I’m not. I do things I don’t want to do, and the things I want to do, I don’t do. And yet Christ loved me, and loves me, in spite of myself. And He is a gracious and loving Savior.
have a great Lord’s day
I believe there are a lot of ‘willful hypocrites’ in the church. Similar to willful sin. They preach against hating your neighbor and yet act hatefully against another group of people. Or who talk about being holy and going to filthy movies or playing Grand Theft Auto. So I think there needs to be a distinction. Maybe what I’m writing about is in the minority and isn’t worth mentioning. But I see a lot of it and so do non-Christians. We are all hypocritical to some degree, which comes with being a sinner, but some are egregious and need to get their act together.Jeff
A good word my brother. In such willful cases it would be a good opportunity for church discipline.
Stan, I love your website!
I think the biggest problem is that people on the inside act as though they are less sinful that those on the outside. It likely is the opposite in that people within the church get the illusion that they are somehow not as sinful just because they have found Christ and attend church. That is where the hypocrisy lies and people on the outside see that side of christianity all the time because it is displayed so promently in most cases. Christ is the only christian who ever walked the planet and we christians had best remember that every moment of every day.
“It likely is the opposite in that people within the church get the illusion that they are somehow not as sinful just because they have found Christ and attend church.” -Gregg
There certainly is a difference in a sinner when Christ saves him, or her. He becomes a slave to righteousness, where as before he was a slave to sin.Sin has lost it’s power, because we are no longer under the law, but have been crucified with Christ, and we are dead to the law, and yet we live.
At the same time, we can not do what we want to, because the flesh wars against the Spirit (Galatians 5).
And it’s 100% grace as Paul tells us:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
Paul always remember he was a sinner, saved by grace, and yet he also knew how great the Holy Spirit worked in him to set him apart, with all honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father in heaven.
Deborah, Thanks!
You miss the point; as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; This expresses what manner of men God sees, when he looks down from heaven; not what he makes them by his grace. Only Christ and our acceptance of Christ differs christians from anyone else. We have no grounds on which to brag.
That’s true Greg, but it’s not just that we are robed in the righteousness of Christ; we also keep His Word because we love Him, because He first loved us.
The world doesn’t love Christ, and so they don’t keep His Word. We are new creatures, if we are in Christ. The Church is the workmanship of the Lord’s Spirit and grace, and is different than the world. The world hates Christ, and the world is destined for judgment, the Church is being sanctified, and made holy. It’s His grace, but it’s still what we do.
As Paul said in his statement that he worked harder than all of them.
“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”
” If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Greetings,How can anyone who is not regenerated understand that it is not, “If I am good, I will go to heaven and if I am bad I will go to hell” but it is “You are not good enough or bad enough to cancel out God’s calling for you in election”. Since natural man’s bent is toward legalism it’s hard for them to understand that their religion is not our religion. Take every opportunity to use this as a time to witness to God’s grace and mercy.