Question: "Why are all Christians hypocrites? Are all Christians hypocrites?"

Answer: No accusation is perhaps more provocative than the term hypocrite. Who wants to be called a hypocrite? Unfortunately, some feel justified in their view that all Christians are hypocrites.

The term “hypocrite� enjoys a rich heritage in the English language. The term comes to us via the Latin “hypocrisies� meaning “play-acting, pretense.� Further back, the word is in both Classical and New Testament Greek, possessing virtually the very same idea, “to play a part, pretend.�

This is the very way the Lord Jesus employed the term, Who, by the way, used it more than all others combined in the New Testament. For example, when Christ taught the significance of prayer, fasting, and alms-giving for Kingdom people, He discouraged us from following the examples of those who are “hypocrites� (Matthew 6.2, 5, 16). By making long public prayers, employing extreme measures to insure others noticed their fasts and parading their gifts to the Temple and the poor, they revealed only a noticeable pretense to our Lord. From Jesus’ point of view, while the Pharisees performed well their dramatic role as public examples of religious virtue, they miserably failed in the inner world of their heart where Judeo-Christian virtue begins (Matthew.23.13-33; compare Mark 7.20-23).

Formally, Jesus never dubbed His disciples hypocrites. That honor was given only to misguided religious zealots. Rather He called His own “followers,� “babes,� “sheep,� His “church.� In addition, there is warning in the New Testament about the sin of hypocrisy (1 Peter 2.1). Peter calls it “insincerity.� Also, two blatant examples of hypocrisy are recorded in the Church. In Acts 5.1-10, two disciples are exposed for pretending to be more generous than they were. The consequence was not pretty. And, of all people, Peter is charged in leading a horde of hypocrites in their treatment of Gentile believers (Galatians 2.13).

From the New Testament teaching, then, we may draw at least two conclusions. First, surely it is not impossible to imagine the existence of hypocrites among Christians. They were present in the beginning. And, given Jesus’ parable of the tares and wheat, they will certainly exist until the end of the age (Matthew 13.18-30). In addition, if even an Apostle may be guilty of hypocrisy, there is no reason to believe “ordinary� Christians will be free from hypocrisy. We always beware lest we fall into the very same temptation (1 Corinthians 10.12).

Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is truly a Christian. Perhaps many or most of the famous hypocrites among Christians were in fact pretenders and deceivers. Prominent Christian leaders have fallen into terrible sins. Financial and sexual scandals sometimes seem to plague the Christian community. However, instead of taking the actions of a few, and using them to denigrate the whole community of Christians â€" perhaps it needs to be re-evaluated whether those who claim to be Christians, yet prove themselves to be hypocrites, are truly Christians.

Secondly, while it should not take us by surprise that people who pretend to be more holy than they are also claim to be Christians, there is no warrant to conclude that the Church is made up almost entirely of hypocrites. One surely may concede that all of us who name the name of Jesus Christ remain sinners even when our sin is forgiven. That is, even though we are saved from sins’ eternal penalty (Romans 5.1; 6.23), we are yet to be saved and delivered from sins’ presence (1 John 1.8-9)â€"including the presence and potential sin of hypocrisy. Through our living faith in the Lord Jesus, we continually overcome sin’s power until we are finally delivered (1 John 5.4-5).

So, in conclusion, are all Christians hypocrites? The answer is yes and no. Yes, all Christians fail to perfectly live up to the standard the Bible teaches. No Christian has ever been perfectly Christ-like. In that sense, yes, all Christians are hypocrites. On the other side, there are MANY Christians who are genuinely seeking to live the Christian life as best they can. There have been multitudes of Christians who have lived their lives free from scandal. No Christian is perfect, but making a mistake and failing to perfectly uphold the ideals you promote is not the same thing as being a hypocrite.
Recommended Resource: Living Above the Level of Mediocrity by Charles Swindoll.

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