{"id":8130,"date":"2014-01-27T17:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T23:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.familylife.com\/flministries\/?p=8130"},"modified":"2014-01-27T17:27:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T23:27:00","slug":"faith-and-hypocrisy-in-the-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/marriage\/staying-married\/growing-spiritually\/faith-and-hypocrisy-in-the-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and Hypocrisy in the Family"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\" fetchpriority=\"high\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How often have you heard a story like this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cI work with a man who says he is a Christian, and he teaches Sunday school at his church. But he is probably the most negative and critical person in the office. He often gets into conflict with people and draws other people into his little battles. He drags the whole office down. He\u2019s such a hypocrite.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s an old story, isn\u2019t it? The hypocrite who claims to be a Christian, but doesn\u2019t back his words with actions. His life embodies the words of James 2:14, which tells us, \u201cWhat use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Webster\u2019s Online dictionary provides a pretty good definition of a hypocrite: It is \u201ca person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion,\u201d or a \u201cperson who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.\u201d Our modern culture likes to link the word with Christianity\u2014according to a survey of \u201cunchurched\u201d adults released last week by LifeWay Research (part of the Southern Baptist Convention), 72 percent said the church is \u201cfull of hypocrites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let me state something very clearly at this point: I believe that hypocrisy is a <em>human<\/em> condition\u2014it\u2019s not confined to Christians. <em>Anyone<\/em> who holds strong convictions\u2014whether in Christianity, or Communism, or in saving the environment\u2014will be a hypocrite at times. His actions and choices will sometimes betray his words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It does seem sadder to me, however, when I see hypocrisy in a follower of Christ \u2026 or in myself. I read in John 13:35 that others will know we are disciples of Christ \u201cif you have love for one another,\u201d and I know that we can show this love in the power of the Spirit. When we do not, our proclamations of truth become empty. As James 2 goes on to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, \u201cGo in peace, be warmed and be filled,\u201d and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, \u201cYou have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of all the places where we should show our faith by our actions, the home is foremost. But the home is also where we relax and take off the \u201cmasks\u201d we wear each day to impress other people; that may make it the most difficult place to show the love and compassion of Christ on a regular basis. Applying the theme of James 2 to the home, \u201cWhat use is it to say you follow Christ when you don\u2019t show your faith in the way you love and serve your family?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so we hear about the man who helps people every day through his encouragement and his wise, biblical counsel \u2026 and returns home to emotionally abuse his wife with his relentless criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We hear about the wife who says she is \u201csaved\u201d and grateful for God\u2019s forgiveness, and yet cannot forgive her husband when he manages his money poorly and takes the family into debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We hear about the father who, in his anger and bitterness, causes his children to lose all interest in the Christian faith. Or the mother who thinks she is being a good model to her children because she attends a weekly Bible study, but doesn\u2019t recognize the damage caused by her preoccupation with materialism and worldly success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The home may be the place where it\u2019s most difficult to live out our faith\u2014and also the most important. What would happen in your marriage and your family if you were to ask God to reveal any hypocrisy in your own life, and then were willing to repent of that hypocrisy and begin walking in the power of God\u2019s love and forgiveness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>\u00a92008 by FamilyLife.&nbsp; All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The home may be the place where it\u2019s most difficult to live out our faith\u2014and also the most important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66132,"featured_media":221706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The home may be the place where it\u2019s most difficult to live out our faith\u2014and also the most important.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2810],"tags":[],"equip-category":[],"cwp_profile":[3074],"class_list":["post-8130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-spiritually","cwp_profile-dave-boehi"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2014\/01\/faith-and-hypocrisy-in-the-family_1300x408.jpg","spectra_custom_meta":{"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_vc_post_settings":["a:1:{s:10:\"vc_grid_id\";a:0:{}}"],"_startdate":["field_598a655fc5a8d"],"startdate":[""],"_state":["field_598a6575c5a8e"],"state":[""],"_url":["field_598a6582c5a8f"],"url":[""],"_venuename":["field_598a6598c5a90"],"venuename":[""],"_hotel_reservationurl":["field_598a65b3c5a91"],"hotel_reservationurl":[""],"_reservationtelephone":["field_598a65c6c5a92"],"reservationtelephone":[""],"_imageurl":["field_598a65edc5a93"],"imageurl":[""],"_postalcode":["field_598a654b146f3"],"postalcode":[""],"_longitude":["field_598a653e355f6"],"longitude":[""],"_latitude":["field_598a64f8ada01"],"latitude":[""],"_enddate":["field_598a64a5afb90"],"enddate":[""],"_countrycode":["field_598a648b86dcc"],"countrycode":[""],"_city":["field_598a647e29bf2"],"city":[""],"_availableseats":["field_598a646bbebc6"],"availableseats":[""],"_addressline1":["field_598a645214a6b"],"addressline1":[""],"_eventid":["field_598a6442626b9"],"eventid":[""],"_cs_replacements":["a:1:{s:12:\"blog-sidebar\";s:4:\"cs-2\";}"],"_alt_author":["field_5ac3df572642e"],"alt_author":["a:1:{i:0;s:5:\"14298\";}"],"_edit_last":["89"],"_ultimate_layouts_video_link":[""],"_nectar_gallery_slider":["off"],"_nectar_quote_author":[""],"_nectar_quote":[""],"_nectar_link":[""],"_nectar_video_m4v":[""],"_nectar_video_ogv":[""],"_nectar_video_poster":[""],"_nectar_video_embed":[""],"_nectar_audio_mp3":[""],"_nectar_audio_ogg":[""],"_post_item_masonry_sizing":["regular"],"_nectar_header_bg":[""],"_nectar_header_parallax":["off"],"_nectar_header_bg_height":[""],"_nectar_header_bg_color":[""],"_nectar_header_font_color":[""],"_disable_transparent_header":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_at_widget":["1"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["marriage"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["marriage"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["The home may be the place where it\u2019s most difficult to live out our faith\u2014and also the most important."],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["49"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"_wp_old_date":["2015-08-24"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"_eael_post_view_count":["1764"],"_eb_reusable_block_ids":["a:0:{}"],"_seopress_titles_desc":["The home may be the place where it\u2019s most difficult to live out our faith\u2014and also the most important."],"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":["marriage"],"_cloudsearch_visibility":["0"],"content_type":[""],"_content_type":["field_63977c8a04ed8"],"disclaimer_banner":[""],"_disclaimer_banner":["field_63e398cbdd89f"],"downloadable_content":["0"],"_downloadable_content":["field_63977e5104edf"],"login_restricted":["0"],"_login_restricted":["field_6398ee3447896"],"override_header":["0"],"_override_header":["field_5d9f5b011a6e0"],"header_post_type":["elementor_library"],"_header_post_type":["field_5d9f5ba898919"],"enable_secondary_navigation":["0"],"_enable_secondary_navigation":["field_62f621cc706a6"],"secondary_navigation":["30052"],"_secondary_navigation":["field_62f6302e2f621"],"make_background_white":["0"],"_make_background_white":["field_5db1f6f6896fd"],"disable_top_header":["0"],"_disable_top_header":["field_5db74a47df831"],"disable_footer_widget_area":["0"],"_disable_footer_widget_area":["field_64b65ff0b99e8"],"override_footer_widgets":["0"],"_override_footer_widgets":["field_5e134c9512191"],"footer_widgets_post_type":["elementor_library"],"_footer_widgets_post_type":["field_5e0ef0bb482f3"],"custom_footer_background_color":[""],"_custom_footer_background_color":["field_64b663b25c0cb"],"custom_footer_logo":[""],"_custom_footer_logo":["field_65b2875a4c227"],"header_sticky_on_mobile":["0"],"_header_sticky_on_mobile":["field_5e18a11219bac"],"show_locations_button_in_header":["0"],"_show_locations_button_in_header":["field_5e1cb1cabaad1"],"hide_social_media_buttons":["0"],"_hide_social_media_buttons":["field_5e1e3036c5657"],"signup_redirect":[""],"_signup_redirect":["field_5e74d18689717"],"tracking_scripts":[""],"_tracking_scripts":["field_5db1a558c0a94"],"video_embed_code":[""],"_video_embed_code":["field_61a661f3ff0af"],"show_recent_3_posts":["1"],"_show_recent_3_posts":["field_5e5fe8fd0a35f"],"show_recent_3_podcasts":["1"],"_show_recent_3_podcasts":["field_5e5fe84cb04cb"],"_thumbnail_id":["221706"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-8130.css"],"_uag_js_file_name":["uag-js-8130.js"]},"meta_box":{"_cloudsearch_visibility":"0","profile_obj_manual_select":false,"profile_obj":false,"separator":false,"enable_link":false,"login_restricted":"0","content_type":"","disclaimer_banner":"","currency":false,"pricing_subtext":false,"element_type":false,"date_field":false,"date_format":false,"theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":"","series":false,"ignore_sticky":false,"conditional_blocks_category":false,"cta_selection":false},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2014\/01\/faith-and-hypocrisy-in-the-family_1300x408.jpg",1024,321,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Christian Longe","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/christian-longe-95b9f932\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The home may be the place where it\u2019s most difficult to live out our faith\u2014and also the most important.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8130"},{"taxonomy":"equip-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/equip-category?post=8130"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=8130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}