It’s the criticism that people in the church hate to hear. The hypocrite.
It is everywhere. Research shows that 85 percent of the public views churchgoers as hypocrites. The people of the church bristle at the accusation. “Of course we are hypocrites” one said. “Everyone, not just Christians, is a hypocrite. Eventually we all say one thing and do another.”
But that’s not really what the public says about the church. They are reacting to something deeper and more disturbing. They are reacting to a lack of humility. They smell a foul odor of false superiority. They smell it when we give easy answers to complex problems. They smell it when we elevate the preacher or the teacher to a pedestal of omniscience. They smell it when we talk ten times more than we listen.
This hypocritical thing is one of the main findings of our new book, Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore. To overcome this negative public perception, and three others, we suggest “four acts of love that will make your church irresistible.” To counter the hypocrite, we advocate Genuine Humility.
This is the kind of humility that Jesus spoke of: “The last will be first.” Genuine Humility resists drawing attention to itself. It’s not masked by false humility (“I’m so honored to see our church make the Top 100 list”).
Genuine humility says, “We’re all in this together.” We are all struggling along the journey of life. We all stumble. We all have questions, doubts, and wonder about the mind of God. None of us is more graduated in God than the next. We are all children of God, rather than officers with increasing ranks.
A list of genuine humility
So what might we look for to become the kind of humble church that Jesus desires? Let me suggest some simple ways to show genuine humility.
1. Spend a lot more time listening to real people.
2. Show enthusiasm for learning from people from other walks of life, of other ages, with other beliefs.
3. Take a fast from reading or listening to famous ministers.
4. Admit you don’t have all the answers. Recognize the mysteries of God.
5. Resist the temptation to dominate your people with doctrinal complexity and academic elitism.
6. Open the floor for your people’s thoughts, questions, discussions, and doubts, along with your own.
7. Take more time for your people to publicly share how they have seen God act in their lives.
8. Let others, less eloquent, pray at services and before meals.
9. Admit your mistakes and flaws. Say sorry”.
10. Get off the pedestal. Reduce your tweets from platitudes. Ask people to call you by your name. Be a real person.
11. Remove the “Reserved for Pastor” sign.
12. Don’t post a picture of yourself with a microphone, the equivalent of a dentist posing with a drill.
Hypocrisy stems from our insecurity. We desperately want people to notice us, respect us, like us and admire us. But we must remind ourselves that we are already esteemed and valued by the largest and most important audience of all: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Genuine humility is a rare commodity today. But when people spot him, they find him irresistible.