"Needed: Authentic Christians"

Hi there, this is Lon Solomon and I'd like to welcome you to our program today. You know it's a tremendous honor that God has given us to be on stations all around the nation bringing the truth of God's word as it is uncompromising and straightforward. And I'm so glad you've tuned in to listen and be part of that.

Thanks again for your support and your generosity that keeps us on the radio. And now let's get to the Word of God. Luke chapter 11, when Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him and so he went in and he reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash his hands before the meal, was surprised. They said, well, why didn't Jesus wash his hands?

That seems like a reasonable thing to ask. Well, now you got to understand what's going on here. When the Pharisees would sit down for a meal, the rabbis would sit down, they went through an elaborate hand washing ritual. They would first of all pour water from their fingertips down to their elbows and then they would take soap and they would work it around in their hands. They would turn it the other way and pour water this time the other direction from their elbows down to their fingers. And they would go through this ritual. The closest thing I can compare it to today is it's kind of like a doctor scrubbing up to go in the operating room.

It's kind of like what these guys would go through. It's a matter of good hygiene. But this is not why the rabbis wash their hands. It was not a matter of hygiene. It was a matter of religious ritual.

And the point they were trying to make was this. We are so clean on the inside. We are so righteous on the inside that we dare not let anything dirty come in us from the outside.

So we've got to go through this incredible ritual. Now Jesus looked at them. They were mad at Jesus because he didn't do it. Jesus looked at them and decided that these guys needed a reality check. And so he gives it to them.

Look at this. Verse 39. Then the Lord said to him, this rabbi, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the outside of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people. Did not the same one, the same God who made the outside of the cup also make the inside of the cup? I mean, come on, fellas.

You know what he's saying here. Have you ever had the experience of reaching up in your kitchen cupboard and you pull down a little porcelain mug and it looks gorgeous from the outside, nice and clean and shiny. And then you go to pour coffee or something in it. You look down in it and there's all this scum and residue that's on down on the bottom where somebody didn't really get down in there and work it. You ever had that experience? I had that experience a lot because I do a lot of the dishes around our house. And I just kind of stick it in, swirl it around, put it over in the drying rack.

And then later, you know, when I look in it, I realize I didn't get everything that was in there to start with. Now that's disgusting. You're not going to drink out of that cup. I don't care how good that cup looks on the outside. You don't care how it looks on the outside.

It is dirty on the inside. And that's what Jesus is saying to these people. He's saying, look, if you guys were as careful about cleaning the inside as you are about cleaning the outside, if you were as obsessed about purifying your heart and your attitudes and your motives as you are obsessed about washing your hands, you'd be better people.

Everybody around you would get a bigger blessing and you'd make a much bigger impression upon God than you're presently making. Now he's on a roll, so he keeps going. He's not going to stop here. Look, verse 42. He says, woe to you, Pharisees, because you give a tenth of all your mint and your rue and all your other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.

Once again, we've got a problem with outside appearance versus inside reality. On the outside, Jesus said, you guys love to give people the impression that God is number one in your life. And the way you do this is you give God lots of money. And elsewhere in the Bible, he says, you know, you blow your trumpet and you march down the street and you give your money and you want everybody to see you give your money so that they know you love God. But Jesus said, hey, on the inside, the real truth is God's not number one in your life.

You are. And the reason I know that is that you guys will compromise justice, Jesus said. You will compromise what you know is right and what you know is righteous just to get what you want. And people who have God number one in their life don't do that.

Then he keeps going. Verse 43. He says, woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and you love the greetings in the marketplaces.

Here again, we've got another problem with an outside-inside situation. Did you know if you go to a synagogue worship that they'll never have an offering? You say, they never take an offering?

Sounds like a great place. No, wait a minute. They never take an offering. They say, well, how do they get the money to run the thing? Well, the way they do it is they sell seats.

You say, they what? Well, they sell seats. See, if you're planning to go to heaven through the Jewish religion, you better be there on Yom Kippur. You better be there on special holidays. And the way they do it is they sell you a seat for the year. Now, on the average Saturday, you can get a seat anywhere you want. But on the big days, you better have your seat. So they sell seats. But the seats aren't all equally priced. The most expensive seats are in the front and then they get less expensive as you move towards the back.

This is what Jesus is talking about here. The most important seats in the synagogue were up front. And when I was growing up every year, my parents had to buy seats in the synagogue. Ours were usually towards the back. But nonetheless, we had a seat.

And that's the way they do it. Now, I got to tell you, the first time I ever went to church, I was 21 years old. I'd only been a Christian a short time. I'd never been in a church in my whole life. And the first church I ever went to was this little Baptist church. And I walk in this little Baptist church and this guy comes up to me, he's got a big name badge on, says Usher. So then he says, come on, follow me, I'll take you to your seat. So he walks me in this church and he walks me all the way down the aisle and puts me right in the front. Well, man, I said, wow, I love this church.

I love these people. Look at this. I don't even know me. This is the first time I'm ever here. And this guy gives me the best seat in the whole house. I should have been a Christian a long time ago.

I love these people. Hello, McFly. I mean, it took me a while to figure out how come I got the seat in the front. You know what I'm saying? You talk about a cross-cultural experience, friends. But you see, in a Jewish synagogue, there's a real pecking order that works like this.

It's front to back. And what Jesus was saying is, guys, we have a problem here. The problem is that as rabbis, you keep presenting yourself to the world on the inside as really caring about people. On the inside is really wanting to serve people.

On the inside is really wanting to put people first. But the truth of the matter is you don't really want to put people first. You want to be first. You want to be in the front of the synagogue.

You want to be greeted. You want the prerogatives. You want the privileges that come with being rabbi.

You don't want to give those up and give them to somebody else. So don't parade yourself around like you do. Finally, he says to them, verse 44, Woe to you, because you're like unmarked graves that men walk by and they don't even realize they're walking by graves. I like the way he says it in Matthew 23. He said, You're like whitewashed tombs. You know, that means a tomb that's painted white on the outside, which look beautiful on the outside. But on the inside, you're full of dead men's bones. In the same way, on the outside, you appear to people as righteous. But on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Now, if you want to read the rest of the chapter, verses 45 to 52, you'll find that Jesus then turned his attention to the professional religious teachers, the seminary professors, and he reamed them out over the very same issue.

We're not going to go through it, but it's the very same issue. But let's step back for just a minute from the intensity of Jesus's words, because he's pretty intense. It's pretty strong language.

And let's ask a basic question. What is it that Jesus was so upset about? What is it that was broken in these guys' lives that Jesus was trying to make them understand needed to be fixed?

That's the question. The answer is that these guys had a monumental inside outside problem. On the outside, they carried themselves like righteous men, like men of God. But when you took a hard look at the inside, it didn't match up. And the really tragic thing is that they didn't even care about the inside. They weren't even worried about the inside. The inside didn't make a bit of difference to them.

As far as they were concerned, as long as they could keep the outside show up and the outside facade up and keep the game going on the outside, everything was fine. Now, God has a word for these kind of people. In fact, he uses it right down in chapter 12, verse 1. He says to the crowd, be on your guard against the yeast, against the evil of the rabbis, which is what? Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy comes from a Greek word and the Greek word means to wear a mask, to pretend to be something that you're not. That's what was going on with these people. And Jesus was trying to help them see that and understand that about themselves. But, you know, when somebody tries to make you realize that you're inconsistent, that you're a hypocrite, you're going to do one of two things.

You're either going to humble yourself and say, you know, you're right and you're going to deal with it, or you're going to hate them for telling you and you can do everything you can to get rid of them. And what do these guys do? Look at verse 53. When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say. Why? So they could accuse him. Why? So they could kill him. Why? So they could get rid of him. Why? So he'd stop telling them they were hypocrites. That's why.

And of course, eventually they were able, temporarily, to get rid of him. Now, let's stop the passage. That's the end of the passage. But let's ask the question, so what? What difference does it make for us? Well, I'd like to suggest to you that we talk about what's the missing element here. OK, if the problem was hypocrisy, then what's the opposite of hypocrisy?

Let's take an SAT exam. OK, antonym. Hypocrisy.

What's the antonym? Authenticity, right? Genuineness. In fact, the Greek word authenticity or authentic actually comes from a word authenticos, which means to act like yourself, to be real, to be genuine, where the inside and the outside match up, where what you see is what you get. That's what it means to be authentic.

And this is something that as a society today, we have got a major crisis in the whole issue of authenticity, not just in the church, but across all of our society. I don't know if you keep up much with demographics. Do you read a lot about demographics? You know, the generations, the busters and the boomers and the builders. And I got my own name for the people under 10. I call them the blasters. Now, I'm not sure if that'll stick, but that kind of describes the ones I've got.

But anyway, the other ones are used commonly. And if you read some of this, what you'll find is there's an incredible cynicism and skepticism that is settling in to the 20-something generation, the Buster generation, that's really frightening. I was reading an article by Ian Williams. It's called Trash That Baby Boom. And here's what he said.

He doesn't even call himself a Buster. They don't like that word. Generation X, I don't like that either. Lost generation, no, they don't like that either. He calls himself a 20-somethinger. All right, well, whatever.

Okay, listen to what he said. Another element of the boomers groupthink that drives us 20-somethingers nuts is that group's hypocrisy, which by now is legendary. Because of their hypocrisy, we as 20-somethingers have become philosophical nomads, believing very little of what we hear and none of what we see. We've been backed into this corner by years of being shown what happens when you put your faith in anything.

Is that scary? You know what the guy's saying? He's saying we don't believe anything we see, none of what we hear. And the way we got here is by years of putting our faith in people, putting our faith in things and being let down, let down, let down, let down. And now we're cynical about everything.

And you know it's true. If you have baby boomers come into our church, they don't trust institutions, people my age. And they'll come in and they'll say, you know, Lon, I don't think I trust the church. But busters come in and they say, Lon, I don't think I trust the church.

And to make it worse, I don't think I trust you either. I mean, it is a deep-seated cynicism. And why do they feel like this? It's because they've seen and heard and had too many non-authentic experiences with professing Christians.

That's how they got there. And I'm just not talking about the Jimmy Swaggarts and the Jim and Tammy Bakers and all the child molesting priests and prime time with its exposés of Robert Tilton and Larry Lee. I'm also talking about the experiences that these people have had with everyday professing Christians like mom, like dad, like the church youth group, like their Catholic school, like things the church does and things Christians do that they've seen. And they think we're all a bunch of hypocrites. Do we deserve that reputation?

Well, let's be honest, folks, we've done a pretty good job of deserving that kind of credibility loss. You know, when I go out and try to speak to people about giving their life to Jesus Christ, whether it's a delivery man at the door or somebody in the open air or people at a meeting, doesn't matter. You know what's interesting? You know what I find to be the number one objection that people have why they're really, they say they're not interested in believing in Jesus Christ? You say, well, they tell you they don't believe that Jonah was swallowed by a fish. No, that's not it. They don't believe Adam and Eve really existed. No, that's not it.

They don't believe Jesus rose from the dead. No, hardly ever get that one. You know what I get all the time? Well, I knew a preacher once and he and I knew a Christian once and she.

That's what I get all the time. What that means is inauthentic Christian living is doing far more to hurt evangelism in our society than any other single issue. I don't know if you get that same response, but I suspect you do. Let me just say that I bet there's some of you here this morning who've been soured on Christianity just because of this kind of thing. Maybe you grew up in a Christian home or you grew up going to a church and you saw a lot of inauthentic Christian behavior and it soured you so bad that still today you're struggling to get over that. You say, all right, Lon, you're right.

I feel that way. What do you got to say to me? What I have to say to you is this. Number one, remember that the validity of Christianity depends on Jesus Christ, not Christians, and that Jesus Christ is impeccably authentic. He's never done one thing inauthentic to you or anybody else. He is the foundation of Christianity. The second thing I'd say to you is remember, no matter how hard we as his followers might even try to be authentic, we're never going to make it 100 percent.

We're never going to be able to be 100 percent genuine and real and non hypocritical. If we were able to do that perfectly, we wouldn't be sinners and we wouldn't need to save you to start with. Now, if you're a little older and a little wiser now than you were years ago when you got soured on Christianity, could I invite you to come back and take another look? But to come back and take another look, realizing that all of this doesn't rise and fall on Christians behavior, it rises and falls on the validity of Jesus Christ.

I hope you'll think about that. You say, well, Lon, but I'm a Christian. Good.

So this is great. You're telling me that we can't all be perfect. We can't all be non hypocritical. Don't worry about it. Now, wait a minute.

Wait a minute. That isn't what I said. That isn't what I said at all. What I'm saying is, if you're a Christian, I think we need a revival of passion for authentic Christian behavior. If we have any chance to make a mark on this world and friends, Bill Hybels left that conference going back to Willow Creek.

And here's what he said as a result of that conference. I decided the best thing I can do for my church as its senior pastor is to lead an authentic Christian life. It's more important than preaching great sermons. It's more important than writing great books.

It's more important than running a smooth organization. The best thing I can do to serve my church is as its leader, live an authentic Christian life myself. And I'd like to say to you that if you're a Christian, my dear friend, the most important thing you can do for the cause of world evangelism, the most important thing you can do to help McLean Bible Church touch people's lives out there with the love of God, the most important thing that you can do to help us restore and reestablish the credibility of Jesus Christ and the church and Christianity in this society, the most important thing you can do is to go out there in that marketplace and live an authentic Christian life in front of everybody watching you. That's the most important thing.

More important than giving them a tape, more important than bringing them to church, you live an authentic Christian life. Now, I've got some suggestions real quick as we close how you can do it. I got four E's.

Ready? Here they are. Write them down. Consistency, there's my first E. Humility, there's my second E. Honesty, that's my third E. And priority on people, my fourth E. Write them down and I want to expand on them for just a second. Consistency, humility, honesty, and a priority on people.

Let me talk to you about them for a second. What do I mean by consistency? What I mean is that we go out there and we hold up the Bible to people in the world and we say, this is the standard by which we ought to be living. This is the standard which we ought to be conforming to in our lifestyle. And we're right in doing that.

That's correct. But consistency means that you and I have to be willing to live by the very same standard we're telling the rest of the world they have to live by. And when we don't, we lose all authenticity in their sight. Number two, humility, admitting that you blew it, admitting that you were wrong when you're wrong, going to somebody and asking for forgiveness.

You know what I found? Often humility will communicate more authenticity to people than if you'd have gotten it right in the first place. It's not lack of perfection that causes the world, non-Christians, to lose their respect for us. They don't expect us to be perfect, but they do expect us to be honest when we're not. To be humble and honest and authentic when we blow it, that's all they want.

And you know what's interesting? Everybody that you've ever done wrong to, they know you're wrong. If you go tell them, hey, I was wrong, they won't stand there and go, really? I never thought that.

Don't worry, that won't happen. They know you're wrong. Your kids know you're wrong when you blow it. Your friends know you're wrong when you blow it.

The purpose of going to them is to show them that you're honest and authentic enough as a human being that they can trust you. You want to win authenticity with people? It doesn't mean you have to be perfect. It just means you have to be humble when you blow it.

Third, I've got to hurry. Honesty. What I mean by that is full disclosure, being up front, playing it straight with people, not manipulating people, not deceiving people, not tricking people so that after people deal with you, they don't feel like they've dealt with a used car salesman.

That's what I'm talking about. People may not like your opinion. They may not agree with your position. They may not like what you're saying to them. But if you want to be authentic with people, the way to do it is that people have to have the assurance that when they deal with you, what they see is what they get. You're going to tell them the straight truth.

You're not going to play ring around the mulberry bush with them, but you're going to deal with them honestly. Fourth and finally, placing the priority on people. Folks, this is a world that doesn't do that.

This is a world that places the priority on using people to get things done. And if we want to establish authenticity as a church, we as a church, the church goes around and says we value people. We go around and say God loves people. We go around and say people are first with God. But then when we come and we mistreat people and we use people and we see people as tools to get what we want, instead of treasuring them and valuing them as people, what are we doing? We're blowing all of our authenticity because the inside and the outside of what we're saying aren't matching up. Does the church ever do that?

You know it does. Some of you have been chewed up in meat grinders by churches who didn't love you, but they love what you could do for them. They didn't really want you, but they wanted everything you could give them and do for them. And many of us here know what it's like to be treated that way by a church or Christian organization. And friends, if we want to earn authenticity in our world, then we as a church have to treat people as the most valuable thing. We value people not for what they can do for us, not for what we can get out of them, not for how they can advance some purpose of ours, but we value them because they're people. They're not a means to an end.

They are the end. And if we're willing to do that, we'll win an authentic hearing from the world. I'm out of time. Let me close by saying this. When you want to cut down a forest, how do you cut it down?

What? One tree at a time, right? If you want to win the world of Christ to make a difference in this Washington community, how are we going to do it? We're going to do it what? One person at a time. And what's the foundation on which we're going to reach one person at a time?

Is it through passing out tapes? No. Is it through giving out tracts? No. Is it through bringing people to church? No.

Is it by telling them to watch Christian television, listen to Christian radio? No. Is anything wrong with any of those things? No. But you know what, friends? If there is not a foundation of authentic Christian living that you're building that on, you're not getting anywhere.

Not anywhere. Our personal authenticity as Christians is the key to touching that world out there. My prayer for you as a result of your being here this morning, my prayer for you is that God will speak to your heart and say, you know, I want to make you, George, I want to make you, Susie, I want to make you, Bill, I want to make you, Tammy, an instrument of world evangelism. Let me tell you how I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it by helping you live an authentic Christian life. Are you willing to let me do that for you or not?

Because that's how we're going to reach people. And I hope that if there's some changes that need to be made in your lifestyle because of what we talked about this morning, that you'll ask God to help you and you'll make them. Heavenly Father, thank you for the word of God being so practical and thank you that it speaks to the real issues of life.

I want to thank you for Jesus' words to us this morning, reminding us that it's not what's on the outside that counts if the inside doesn't match it. Lord, we ask you to forgive us, both as individuals and as members of the church at large, those of us who are Christians here, to forgive us for the times where we've been very sloppy about our authenticity, where we've kind of dismissed it as not really being all that important. Lord, we've hurt the cause of Christ by living that way. And I pray that you would speak to our hearts this morning about the need to revive our passion for real, genuine, authentic Christian living.

Lord Jesus, this is the only way, and you know it, that we're ever going to reach this world. It's the only way we're ever going to restore the credibility of the church and Christianity and Jesus Christ. So send us out of here, I pray this day, committed to a new birth of authentic living in our lives as Christians. Maybe some of us need to go back and see people that we've wronged. Maybe some of us need to change the way we operate with people.

Maybe some of us need to change things in our lifestyle so we're more consistent. Whatever it may be, dear God, give us the courage we need to make those changes, and give us the help we need because we'll need your power. And use us, Lord, as a result of all of this, I pray, to make a difference in this world for Jesus Christ. I pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. You've been listening to So What with Dr. Lon Solomon. So What is an outreach of Lon Solomon Ministries. To listen to today's message or for more information, visit our website, lonsolomonministries.org. Thank you for your support. If you would like to contact us, please visit our website or call us at 866-788-7770. We hope you will join us next time when Lon seeks to answer one of life's most important questions, So What.