Nobody likes an imposter because nobody likes to be deceived. When people pretend to be holy instead of living a holy life from the inside out, it is deceptive. Jesus called it hypocrisy. It has been a problem that God has dealt with for a long time. The root of the problem is people are more concerned about what others think of them than they are about their true relationship with God.
An overview of the Law, Prophets and Gospels will draw one to a clear conclusion about God’s view of those who act religiously. He hates it when people fake a relationship with Him. We should be able to understand God’s point. One of the things we hate is when someone acts like our friend, but in reality they only want to use us.
This explains why God said what he did to the people of Israel. They wanted to do all the religious things, but did not live justly with one another. “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:21-24 NIV)
It also explains why Jesus spoke so harshly to those who were “outside-in” followers of God. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:27-28 NIV)
In order to reach a dying world we need authentic Christians who are willing to live their faith from the inside out. This requires a steady diet of humility, repentance and dependence on God’s Holy Spirit. I think one of the chief ways God forms us is by using our humiliations. It strips the veneer from the outside and exposes who we are inwardly.
