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And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”   --Matthew 4:19 There are many, many reasons why people reject Jesus Christ. And one of the most popular excuses people give for rejecting Him is because of hypocrisy in the church. Yes, there are hypocrites in the church of Jesus Christ. Think about it. Jesus had 12 disciples and one of them was even a hypocrite! So yes, there are—unfortunately—people who say they are Christians, and yet don’t live like Christians. But did you ever consider that the devil may put a hypocrite in your path just to keep you from Jesus Christ? The devil can do that. Let me help you understand why. Have you ever considered that when people want to counterfeit something, they don’t counterfeit gum wrappers? They counterfeit $20 bills, $100 bills… something that’s real! So for people to counterfeit the Christian faith…. and for the devil to put those counterfeits in your path… only indicates that Christianity is real! Again, the fact that there are hypocrites in the church doesn’t lessen the credibility of the Christian faith. You need to make a distinction between sin and hypocrisy. All Christians sin. But not all sinful Christians are hypocrites. Just because a Christian may sin doesn’t mean that Christianity is phony. And… look again at today’s verse. Jesus said, “Follow me.” He didn’t say, “Follow that person” or “Follow that church.” He said, “Follow me”!  Jesus Christ isn’t a hypocrite. When you follow Jesus Christ, you’re following Someone who always keeps His promises… and you’re following Someone who never sinned.  So Christianity doesn’t stand or fall by the way a so-called Christian may act. Christian faith is in Jesus Christ! I hope this encourages you in your faith today. The fact that there are hypocrites in the church doesn’t lessen the credibility of the Christian faith.

The Weeping Saviour

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”
Luke 19:41–42
In 1859, Swiss businessman Jean Henri Dunant traveled to Italy to meet with the French Emperor Napoleon III in hopes of reaching an agreement on a business deal. The French Army was on the field in Italy, and Dunant arrived in Solferino at the end of a horrible battle. The Battle of Solferino left forty thousand soldiers dead or wounded on the field. At the time there was no organized effort to care for those injured in war. Dunant abandoned his commercial purpose and organized the local townspeople to provide relief for those wounded in battle.
When he returned home, Dunant wrote and self-published a book describing the horrors he had witnessed and the lack of response. In 1863, he was instrumental in the founding of what became the International Red Cross. Dunant also helped create and promote the Geneva Conventions which govern the treatment of combatants and civilians in times of war. He made a difference because he cared.
Jesus cared about people. He knew their needs and had compassion on them. He was not a harsh and cruel God, but a Saviour who wept for those He came to save—and for those who rejected Him. Often in the Gospels we see Jesus crying, not for Himself, but for others. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). God calls us to open our eyes to the needs of those around us. Our hearts should break and be full of compassion just as Jesus’ heart was.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

If we are to be like Jesus, then our hearts must break for those who are lost and in need of salvation.