He defines hypocrisy as “A lie told in deeds rather than words.”Scripture describes hypocrisy as a well-ornamented mask that people will often wear in order to hide their inward corruption from others. When you meet a hypocrite, “what you see is not what you get”.

The sad truth is, most Christians play act from time to time. And as a result, it has done some major damage to the cause of Christ and has weakened the power of the gospel. Believe it or not, this has been going on for years. Did you know it was even a significant problem during Paul’s day?

“Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)

Shame. Shame on all of us who declare their love for the Lord and yet eat & drink at the devil’s table. Shame on me, even though I am a pastor, for I am not immune to this. Neither are you. All of us who claim to be followers of the risen Savior should shed genuine tears of sorrow for all the bad press, mud, and disdain we have thrown in the direction of Christ by our own hypocrisy. 

Can you blame the non-Christian for not being drawn to the love of Jesus after they consider our way of life? In some respect, I can’t blame them at all. But in another respect, hypocrisy is endemic to the human condition itself. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “the heart is deceitful above all things…” Above all things! Wow, that is quite a declaration. Lying and concealing is a natural part of who we are – –  and it isn’t just a Christian problem. It is a human problem.

It just seems to bite harder and sting more when a Christian lies because we claim to live in truth.

But tell me, is there really anyone out there who is truly authentic? And putting a tattoo on your arm and wearing a man-bun doesn’t count. Is anyone being true to themselves? We all hide a little bit of ourselves daily because we fear the comments and criticisms of the crowd, “If they really knew me, they wouldn’t want me around.” It is hard to entrust yourself to a world that is quick to pounce.

Well, there is one group of people who claim to live authentically. There is one group that doesn’t mind letting who they really are “all hang out”. I call them the “Deviants.” The deviant is someone who enjoys and even relishes in wandering off the path of the straight and narrow; in fact, they are quite proud of being different, odd and at times even distasteful & disgusting.

There is something liberating about being deviant, and being forthright about how you will be lowering all expectations for yourself. Not only does it shield you from any accountability, but when you create zero expectations by your stated ‘lack of moral conviction’, these expectations become very easy to meet. So in a twisted sort of way, the deviant is the one person who can boast, “Hey, at least I am being consistent and honest in my deviance.” Which also means, “I am nothing like those hypocritical Christians who say they are one thing and do another.”

The deviant can actually boast about his honesty in not being moral. Which puts those living for immorality in a unique position to see themselves as morally superior to the Christian hypocrite…strange, huh?

So, while standing on their moral high-ground, the deviant views himself as above criticism, “Hey, I am just being me”. But if you closely examine this claim, the truth is, they are being supremely hypocritical too. Their logic is faulty. I find three major issues with the person who is proud of their deviance, and in a way, I think they are far more disingenuous and duplicitous than the Christian who fails to live up to what they say…

(1) Boasting about being honest and authentic in their deviancy is hypocritical because they are using our standards of righteousness to promote their unrighteousness. They are stealing Christian measurements and virtues to compare themselves to us. Honesty and authenticity are Christian virtues. How can you be proud that you are true to your word for not being true and good in your behavior? This to me is a far worse kind of hypocrisy than the Christian’s because it gives credit to a Christian principle while they mock it at the same time.

They think they are cool when they lie, but they hate being lied to by the Christian hypocrite. They don’t mind ruining the lives and innocence of others, but you better not mess with their life. Why does hypocrisy even make them mad at all? Shouldn’t they celebrate that someone is being deviant? They will condemn the Christian, but demand to not be condemned by the Christian. They want morality to only cut one way…this is hypocrisy!

(2) Deviancy never takes full ownership for the deviant behavior and consequences of the true deviants. Most public deviants only pedal a soft-form of deviancy – and yet it is their exact principle of deviancy that gives rise to the hard-core form of deviancy as well. They just won’t take the blame for it.

This is far worse than Christian hypocrisy because at least we can call Christian hypocrites to account for their hypocrisy; whereas there is no way to really call deviants to account because they are being true to the principles of deviancy. Deviants, who want us to accept their deviance, only want us to focus on the mild forms of deviance and even want us to see it as healthy, liberating and just another neutral choice in a range of possible, harmless choices.

But what about the more serious deviants? Homosexuality will promote the healthy parts, claiming it is a healthy consensual adult relationship built on love (and their definition of love has been stolen and twisted from Christianity); but you will never hear about the vile parts of the homosexual movement? They never are made public.

And yes, there are extremely vile parts to it.

You will never hear about the exploitation of the vulnerable, you never hear about the high rates of STD’s, large cases of depression, suicides, and destruction of human worth. Rarely will they give you a glimpse into the dark and seedy world of the LGBT bathhouses and perverted haunts. Regular society would be appalled!

Do you know how many young innocent lives have been trashed by lying, lust-driven men and women who say, “Have you ever doubted your sexuality? Maybe it is because you are gay? Do you know why it is so hard for you to talk to girls? Maybe it is because you like boys?” There is nothing more sick than a teacher saying that to a 5th grader, or a women’s basketball coach saying that to one of the 7th or 8th grade players under her tutelage. This kind of deviancy is hidden, but it grows out of the same vine of less deviant.

It reminds me of what Lex Luther once said about Superman, “I can always beat Superman because I have no problem with using an evil means to accomplish what I want. But Superman does.” The deviant is only being authentic when he allows evil to ruin the lives of others just so he can “true to himself.” The person who leaves his wife and children to go explore his homosexual proclivities is the biggest hypocrite of all. “Till death do us part” now means, “that is until I find out that I never really meant it in the first place.” I wonder, can I leave my wife someday because at the time of our marriage I never knew I was meant to be single, a swinger, or I liked young boys? All of this deviancy is hypocrisy.

(3) Christian hypocrites, like an alcoholic, at least will admit they have missed the mark and they need help to get there. Deviants think they have already arrived and they have nothing to apologize for. One writer said, “Even the term hypocrite is mankind paying homage to the goodness of virtue.” In other words, when you are mad at a person’s hypocrisy it is a backdoor admission to some sort of general standard of rightness.

What matters for the Christian hypocrite is not to shrivel up and stop living because I failed. Rather, a charge of hypocrisy is another chance to acknowledge my failing and admit that I need help. It also means I am open to change. But the deviant lives in denial to his hypocrisy and as a result don’t think he ever needs to change. Again, it is like the alcoholic ignoring the fact that he has an alcohol problem.

So then, what is the standard of rightness that under-girds all of reality?  I will quote from Os Guinness to answer this most pressing question:

“God is the God of truth. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The Scriptures are the truth. The gospel is the word of truth. Conversion is a turnaround triggered by truth. Discipleship is the way of life that is living in truth. Confession is a realignment with the truth. Spiritual growth is life formation through the power of the Spirit of truth. And the Last judgment is the final vindication and restoration of truth for humanity and for the very cosmos itself.”

So, I confess, I am a hypocrite. In fact, I would far rather be a hypocrite than a deviant because I know there is an answer. It is Jesus, and I need him every hour!