INTEGRITY THAT BUILDS CHURCH HEALTH
Everyone Hates Hypocrisy
In fact, one of the main excuses people give for rejecting Jesus is that the church is full of hypocrites. This is obviously made worse by the ministry scandals of recent years. Our word hypocrite comes from a Greek theater term for acting. The word has come to describe the gap between who a person is on the inside and who they pretend to be on the outside. The opposite of hypocrisy is a quality called integrity, one of the most highly valued character trait in the world.
The Book of Acts opens with a brief comment about the integrity of Jesus, describing the complete harmony between all that Jesus began to do and teach.
In the life of Jesus there was no hypocrisy, no gap between who He was on the inside and how he acted in public. In fact, the words and works of Jesus were completely in synch. Jesus taught about love and he acted out love. He taught about the Kingdom of God and he did the works of the Kingdom. He taught about forgiveness and he forgave even those who put Him to death.
When John the Baptist was put in prison he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask if He were truly the messiah or if they should wait for another. Jesus told them to wait and watch. At that moment he healed the sick, opened blind eyes, drove out demons and proclaimed the truth. Then he told them to tell John what they had both seen and heard. You see, one of the most awesome things about Jesus is that the acts of Jesus were in perfect alignment with the claims of Jesus. In the same way, the Acts of the Apostles were in alignment with the claims of the Apostles. As a result they were able to turn their upside-down world right-side up.
The question we need to ask ourselves is this: how do our acts line up with our claims?
Do we turn the other cheek? We believe in the victory of the cross but do we live victorious lives? We believe in the power of God but do we walk in Power? We believe that God can send revival but do we act like it? Jesus said that we would do greater works than He did.
