Is the Church Full of Hypocrites?

Why the Failures of Some Christians Don’t Refute the Truth of Christ

My mom is one of the greatest people I know. She’s kind, loving, generous, and often focuses on how she can better the lives of those around her. Yet, she didn’t have a Christian upbringing.

Because of this, she often asks really good questions from the perspective of an open, truth-seeking observer.

One such question came from something she has experienced on occasion. Something that many of us have admittedly dealt with unfortunately. Without getting into the weeds, she noted encounters with people who seem to rob you Monday through Saturday, then go to church on Sunday.

In so many words, she asked the common question:

If Christianity is truly transformative, why are many Christians hypocrites?

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Don’t Blame Beethoven

The hypocrisy objection is common. And to be fair, this challenge is only merited because Christians engage in immoral behavior like everyone else.

It can be hard for people to accept the truth of Jesus if those who follow Him still fail so egregiously. But there is something that needs to be recognized when it comes to this objection.

The truth of something is not determined by those who fail to live it out.

Consider for a moment the majesty of a deep pink and orange sunset. This is something most would consider beautiful. Now imagine I come along and attempt to paint it. I am a terrible artist and would likely choose all the wrong colors, use terrible brushstrokes, and create a painting that is overall ugly and unappealing.

Seeing my finished result, you would not say, “Wow, sunsets are ugly.” You would rightly recognize that I failed to capture the beauty of it.

In the same way, there will be Christians who fail to reflect Jesus appropriately. In fact, we all fail to reflect Him to a degree. If we didn’t fail, we wouldn’t need Jesus to be our Savior in the first place.

But our failure to represent Jesus perfectly does not mean that what Jesus taught was wrong. It does not mean Jesus is not true.

“When someone plays Beethoven wrong, you don’t blame Beethoven.” - Frank Turek

Don’t Throw the Baby Out

Many are familiar with the adage, “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” Likewise, we can’t throw out the truth of what Jesus taught or did just because His followers don’t live out that truth perfectly.

That said, if faith in Christ is truly transformative, we do need to account for why some Christians still act so poorly. Furthermore, why is it that some non-believers act in ways that appear morally superior to churchgoers?

First: We must recognize that just because someone goes to church does not mean they are actively trusting Christ in their lives. James addresses this point head-on in Scripture when he writes, “even the demons believe-and shudder” (James 2:19).

Belief that is much different than belief in.

Simply knowing that God exists and going through the motions is not the same as placing your trust in Him and allowing Him to transform you.

Second: The Church has been responsible for revolutionary good around the world.

For example, the moral framework of Christianity was pivotal in the abolition of open slavery.¹ The Church has also been instrumental in the formation of hospitals.² Christians also consistently rank among the most charitable groups.³

Thus, it cannot be said that the Church is not engaged in transformative good, because it clearly is.

But beyond large-scale impact across the world, countless lives marked by addiction, anger, and brokenness have been radically changed through a genuine relationship with Christ.

Third: The brokenhearted often have an easier time finding Christ. In contrast, those who appear to have their lives together by modern standards often struggle to recognize their own shortcomings and needs.

But those who have hit rock bottom, who have been brought low and recognize their own brokenness, often have an easier time admitting they cannot save themselves.

As C. S. Lewis states:

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.⁴

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Don’t Judge Incorrectly

I was born around the same time as LeBron James. I am a decent athlete, but I am in no way suited to be a basketball player. My hand-eye coordination isn’t great, I’m average height, and I’m not particularly fast. I can almost guarantee that if I had the best basketball coach in the world training me since age five, I would still be dominated in a game of one-on-one by LeBron.⁵

Despite that likely truth, no one in their right mind would say, “Well, I guess that means coaches are pointless.”

LeBron is tall, he’s fast, he has great hand-eye coordination, and more. It’s a simple fact that his natural starting point is lightyears ahead of mine.

Knowing this, it would be silly to compare me, even with phenomenal coaching, to LeBron to determine if coaches are effective. Instead, you would need to compare my efforts without a coach to my efforts with a coach. Or, at the very least, compare me to someone with a similar starting point.

Likewise, it is unreasonable to compare a non-Christian who grows up in a stable home, for example, with an orphan who had no parental direction and later turns to Christ.

If someone falls from a two-story building, we rightly recognize that they will most likely require more medical attention than someone who simply trips off a curb.

And so, we must recognize that the Church is not a country club for saints. It is a hospital for sinners who are working through different levels of brokenness. Sinners who realize they can’t heal themselves. Sinners who need a Savior to change their heart from the inside out in various ways.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Mark 2:17

Don’t Be Led Astray

Scripture makes one thing clear: there is great accountability for those who lead others astray in their walk toward Christ.

In fact, Jesus considers it so serious that He states:

“…it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” - Matthew 18:6

Just because hypocrisy can occur in the Church, like everywhere else, does not mean it is condoned or simply brushed off by Christians. The damage it causes in leading others astray is fully recognized.

And when it occurs, it should be fully reprimanded.

But we must judge Jesus by Jesus, not by those who fail to reflect Him properly. And we must not let the presence of hypocrites erase the reality of genuinely transformed lives.

We are all broken vessels with different starting points, Christian or not. But sincere followers are walking in step with Christ, working toward a life that better reflects His ideal. Yes, Christians will fail at times, but the difference is that we are actively asking God to transform us from the inside out.

So when someone says the Church is “full of hypocrites,” the honest response is:

“Of course it is, because it’s full of people who know they need to change. But hey, we’ve got room for one more!”

“In fact, it’s been well said that the church is the only society in the world in which membership is based on the single qualification that the candidate be unworthy of membership.” - John MacArthur, Anxious for Nothing

1. John S. Dickerson, Jesus, Skeptic (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019), chap. 9-10.

2. Ibid., chap. 8.

3. American Bible Society, State of the Bible USA 2023.

4. C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

5. Basketball analogy adapted from an example given by Frank Turek, CrossExamined podcast.