About Hypocrisy and Pretenders

I grew up in a home where no mention of God was ever made except as a swear word. We never went to Church and never knew people who did.

When I came to understand that there was a God and that He had created me and had a plan for my life, I eagerly accepted His gift of salvation. My life turned 180 degrees. Before I felt no purpose as I wondered .. "What in the world is this life all about?" Then someone turned on the light ... they opened the Bible and spoke God's very words to me. I learned that there was a creator, his name is GOD. I also learned that He loved me and pursued me and provided a way for me to know him personally. If that isn't revolutionary .. I don't know what is. The evening I learned about GOD I was so filled with a knowing within .. my spirit told me that this was TRUTH ... I had never felt that way in all of my 15 years... Yes, I was just a teenager when I first learned about a God in Heaven that created and loved me. I was so filled with a longing to know him ... I set my path on a course to find out all I could about who God was and what I could do to live for him. It was hard in those days reading the King James Version in Old style English... But as I searched the scripture I begged God to reveal Himself to me. He always gave me some nugget of truth as I studied. I'd like to interject here that the version I use today and highly recommend is the New Living Translation... This version is reliable and so much easier for our generation to understand.

The first person I told after asking Jesus to forgive me of my sins and receiving salvation was my Mother. I was so excited to tell her that it just tumbled out of my mouth. I was shocked by my Mother's response. Are you for Real? My typically easy going mom looked at me with dagger's and continued, don't you ever talk to me about this again, do you understand me! I was shocked and confused. I had always been able to talk about anything with my mom .. what was this reaction all about.

Years later and after my family had thoroughly scrutinized my every move as a new Christian, they decided that they liked what they saw in me. You see as I drew near to God, He began to change me from within. A couple of changes I remember from those days long ago was how He took my selfishness and taught me to think of others first and He took my big mouth and taught me to ask forgiveness when I shot it off in anger. Yes, my family was watching and trying to figure out if this was a phase or if it were for real.

I learned later that my mom had been victim to what I would call a Pretender .. either that or a crazy woman. Mom explained that when she first heard me talk about God and Jesus that all she could think about was an experience she had when she was a young woman. One day my mom was at the beach when she turned to see a lady in a row boat with a megaphone. This lady was screaming, "Repent you Sinners or you're going to Hell." She kept screaming out the same message as she rowed up and down the lake.  It was very disturbing to my mother.  It was an ah ha moment for me ... no wonder my poor mother responded as she did.  She did not want me to be like the megaphone lady on the lake.

One day my brother, who had teased and taunted me ... calling me little Miss Christian and Holy Roller etc., came to me and said, "ok Mekenzie, I know I've given you a hard time .. but now I want to know why .. why have you chosen this life?"  I was so happy that my brother let me tell him why I chose God .. I poured it all out as I shared the love I had for God and for him.

The change I experienced after asking Jesus to be my Lord and Savior was dramatic and life changing. All who knew me were witness to the fact that once I was just a normal teen aged girl but now I was a dynamic loving young woman who lived her life out of a great love for her God.

After accepting God's gift of forgiveness I started going to an authentic Church filled with God's presence and people who lived out their faith.  I was only 15 years old at the time and these people so loved me as they took me under their wing.  I had trouble, as a new believer understanding the Bible messages ... I felt they were way over my head.  Lofty words and Bible reading from the King James text seemed from another time and place.  In my struggle to understand God's word I did what came very natural to me now ... I talked to God about it. and he helped me grab nuggets of truth here and there.

I began to hunger for more.  I asked Him what I was supposed to do next. I had taken the first step in my walk with Christ.  I had accepted Jesus sacrifice for my sins, I knew I was part of a new family (not born of flesh and blood but of the spirit) but I wanted more... "Lord, there must be more." I prayed. Not long after that prayer God sent a young man to our Church to head up the youth group. He was a guy whose soul was caught up with the Love of God. He was genuine - he was the real deal!  I saw Jesus love and passion being lived out in Jake. He had a pure love and holiness about him. One discipline Jake instilled in me was Bible memorization. I was young and my memory was sharp.  Jake knew what he was doing when he challenged the youth group to memorize scripture. He was encouraging us to plant the seeds of God's word in our hearts ... knowing God's word would keep us from sin and the Holy Spirit would use it our whole lifetime to direct and lead us.

My senior year of high school, God spoke to me and let me know he wanted me to get prepared to serve Him with the rest of my life.  When I first heard His voice .. not literal but an inward drawing ...  I prayed and told God how ignorant I was of Christianity and the ways of God ... being a new Christian and all... and that is when God spoke to me very softly but distinctly... "I want you to go to the Bible College." I had NO such plans before He spoke to me ... in fact had planned to marry my high school sweetheart.  If you are curious and would like to know more I about this story, I have explained the circumstances in more detail in another hub I wrote called "Not My Will."

You cannot imagine the excitement and anticipation I held in my heart as I walked onto this College Campus. I could barely wait to meet other believers who loved God just like I did. I had envisioned Bible College being one big family sharing their walk with God.

It wasn't long before I realized that most of the students on campus were no different than the kids I went to high school with. There was nothing in their lives to indicate they knew Jesus in a personal way. I began to hear some gossip and caddy attitudes.  So many were just going through the motions and living a life of hypocrisy.... claiming to know Jesus yet living a life with no evidence of love or godliness. I sat in classes with students and would listen to their intelligent questions and then leave class only to listen to their godless conversations. I think that bothered me most ... it was the absense of any discussion about God or the Christian walk.

Perhaps coming from a home without God made the contrast between a genuine believer and a pretender very clear to me. My life before Christ was so meaningless, self centered and self serving. Learning about God's plan for my life gave me a new perspective and changed my life drastically.

The majority of kids on campus were not changed .. to say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I almost lost my faith due to my focus on these pretenders and hypocrites.

I remember clearly the day I sat in the cafeteria on campus thinking ...
if this is what Christianity is ... I want NOTHING to do with it."  I was angry and outraged by all  the hypocrisy swirling around me.

Then in that very moment, God's still small voice spoke to my heart. In fact I wrote the words in my Bible, on that day so long ago, because I knew it was a defining moment in my life. God said to me ... "Mekenzie, people will fail you - I will NEVER fail you... Get your eyes off of people and put them on me and you will never be disappointed." I got it God and thank you!

Understanding that God wanted me to learn from Him and to keep my eyes off  those who were pretenders and hypocrites was crucial to my deepening walk with Jesus. I could have become bitter and resentful of hypocrites. I could have set myself on a pedestal as I looked down on the pretenders... but then I too would be a hypocrite and a holier than thou ... good for nothing.  No, the hypocrite and the pretender were God's problem - not mine. I just needed to focus on Him.

After accepting God's word to me that day ... I began to find the genuine authentic believers on campus. They were there all the time ... I had let the hypocrites and pretenders get in the way of my finding them.

Those of you who read my hubs know that I have been a Pastor's Wife for most of my life. The fact that God spoke to me about pretenders and hypocrites was a crucial and foundational truth I needed in place in order be affective in the ministry.

Early on I understood there would always be hypocrites and pretenders in the world. It's a fact. They came to Church too. The devil uses pretenders and hypocrites to deter people from truth. They are very well known for giving Christianity a BAD name.

Most often Pretenders are fooling themselves too. They go to Church thinking it will cover them as some kind of good deed. They mask their real person while in Church .. then live like the devil during the week.

In my years as a Pastor's wife I have seen some of these hypocrites and pretenders brought to their knees in repentance. Although hypocrites deter people from God, my thought is, what better place for a hypocrite to be than in the Church? I know that might sound strange, but If they attend an authentic healthy church with sound teaching, and if they meet people who are genuine in their walk and talk ... then hypocrites and pretenders get to sit in a front row seat as they witness the real thing - God at work in His people. When the hypocrite and pretender comes to Church ... God has opportunity to speak their hearts and to put his search light on their darkened souls. They can change too.

Yes, hypocrites and pretenders are everywhere in our world. Though we wish they would keep their mouths shut and stop hurting the cause of Christ ... they will not. They need Him desperately but are blinded by religiosity. God loves everyone ... He died for the hypocrite and the pretender too. They need our prayers and our compassion. They need to get to the place that they remove their mask so He can get to their hearts.

May God help each of us to keep our eyes fixed on Him and Him alone. People all around us will fail us .. we are sinners saved by grace .... But Jesus never fails! Don't get side tracked by the hypocrites and pretenders .. pray for them ... Jesus died for them just like He died for you.

Categorizing Hubs I have organized my Hubs alphabetically and by topic. I did this to help reader's to find my articles easier. Thank you for gracing my pages with your visits and lovely comments.

Mekenzie