(ThyBlackMan.com) Far too often we take the ability to move our body for granted. When you deal with health challenges, and there is a great degree of pain involved you tend to move for the things that matter most…and are a necessity. Getting to church sometimes is an act of faith in itself…every single step taken is a testimony of God giving you strength. Making it to church isn’t merely about the fellowship, but you needed to feel the presence in what should be The House of God. The problem isn’t those with issues or bad attitudes. Its not the “sinners” …nor those that don’t speak that give me pause, as I expect to see off putting spirits at church. This is the hospital for the spiritually ill.
What is slaying the church to it’s core though is the one that smiles in your face while cursing you under their breath. It is the one that has this expectation of biblical perfection from you while they commit flaws on much greater levels. When are we going to be sick and tired of the hypocrisy that runs rampant in the church? The problem is personal, and it is one the congregation must address. We are losing believers and injuring our brothers and sisters deeply. These kinds of people are committing the types of evil that strip the last bit of light out of the eyes and hearts of people trying to fight through darkness to come into the light. Why are more of us angry? Why do we sit back and allow it to happen as if it is none of our business? It is our business, and when we allow such poison to run rampant in our house of worship…it only a matter of time before we become the victim, accomplice, or the aggressor. Everyone is affect…and to think the children we are trying to raise to be good people are watching this behavior happen. This means the hypocritical cycle will continue.
I had always known this was a problem as I saw the hypocritical spirit in church and outside of it all the time. I has suffered at the hands of its demand for a perfection I could never obtain, while watching those holding me accountable make bad decisions and I had better not dare to say a word. Those passing their bodies around would call me fast for smiling in the direction of a boy, and it wasn’t to save me from a dangerous path…it was the hypocrite standing in judgement of me. I watched it happen to others and when I dare stand up to it…very few would stand with me. There are people I know that are running from anyone claiming to know God because they were mentally, emotionally, and spiritually tortured in the church. When does it stop? If you are thinking about a way to refute the situation we definitely have a problem/ hypocrisy can’t be reasoned with…it has to be confronted and rooted out. At some point we must stop waiting for someone to deliver us from bad behavior. We must stop calling upon God to stop behavior without having the courage to confront the evil that is blatantly staring us in the face.
We cannot expect the church to be a place that can sustain, up life, instruct, properly correct, and offer unconditional love until we stop the hypocrisy. Even though I have trouble walking I was ridiculed for not being able to walk into service on time by someone that harms others. That person cared not what it took for me to get to church…all they cared about was their appearance or righteousness and feeling they had control over another human being. I am grateful for the sistah that spoke out against this offense. The house belongs to GOD not to man, and maybe that is where we must begin to get a handle on this ugly. We have allowed church to become a place of chastisement instead of a place of love and instruction. Some may feel it is the responsibility of church leadership to lead us in a better way. This is true if you are thinking they should lead by example, then speak to the hypocrisy they are witnessing. I say that because you can’t have a spirit of hypocrisy and think to call it out in someone else…that’s part of the problem.
More importantly, we have a habit of waiting for leadership to move when we are capable of helping to positively shape our environment. All in The House of God are responsible to help keep the house…we ought not place all the burden on leadership. Each one of us is accountable. Let’s kill the hypocrisy, cleanse the house, and walk in love.
Staff Writer; Chelle’ St James
May also connect with this sister via Twitter; ChelleStJames.