The Line in the Sand - Hypocrisy

♪ Love was good as me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know ♪ ♪ Welcome to Pity and Oak ♪ ♪ Let's celebrate with the backseat ♪ ♪ Well, I'm clean ♪ ♪ Simple stain don't mean ♪ ♪ She was running to you ♪ ♪ Your love was spilled on Calvary ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're unclean ♪ ♪ The guy I can't believe ♪ ♪ I met him dead between ♪ ♪ I said to him you're fit to me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're unclean ♪ ♪ It's not what I had done ♪ ♪ The one you taught for me ♪ ♪ To paint it all upon that tree ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're unclean ♪ ♪ Your love has overcome ♪ ♪ Your mercy is so green ♪ ♪ I'm dancing in your victory ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪

♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ Lost in the blood of the kinds of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you've been once in the water ♪ ♪ 'Cause you take away my shoes ♪ Come on, y'all. ♪ And you never do the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ It's how to know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ It's how you took away my shoes ♪ ♪ Hanging down into the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ 'Cause you took away my shoes ♪ ♪ 'Cause you took away my shoes ♪ ♪ And you never do the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Hanging down into the cross ♪ ♪ 'Cause you took away my shoes ♪ ♪ 'Cause you took away my shoes ♪ ♪ Hanging down into the cross ♪ ♪ Hanging down into the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪

♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ How do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Well, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, I'm as good as me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're here at heart ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, oh, because of me ♪ ♪ Oh, how do you know you're here ♪ - Come on Church, we'll put those hands together today. (upbeat music) ♪ This is my story, I testified ♪ ♪ That this seems so blessed for all my life ♪ ♪ When I start remembering how could you be ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Features to worship, the tears that to play ♪ ♪ Chains of depression, broken by grace ♪ ♪ When I start remembering how could you be ♪ - Are you ready, Church, do me aye? ♪ Oh, you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, you've been so, so, so, so, so, so, so good to me, yeah ♪ ♪ You've been warm and warm and warm ♪ When I start remembering how you carry my cross You call me Bonnie, you look like ours But you didn't leave me that way We said now I live, and that's what you did Oh you've been so, so, so, so good to me Oh you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me Your boys and I, look close in the house

I put back on my life in all that I see Oh you've been so, so, so, so, so good ♪ To me ♪ ♪ If God has been good to you ♪ ♪ Come on, give the praise in this place ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ When I say God is good ♪ ♪ You say ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ When I say all the time ♪ ♪ You say ♪ ♪ You say God is good ♪ ♪ When I say God is good ♪ ♪ You say all the time ♪ ♪ When I say all the time ♪ ♪ You say God is good ♪ ♪ When I say God is good ♪ ♪ You say all the time ♪ ♪ When I say all the time ♪ ♪ You say God is good ♪ ♪ When I say God is good ♪ ♪ You say all the time ♪ ♪ When I say all the time ♪ ♪ You say God ♪ ♪ So so so so so so so ♪

♪ So good to me ♪ ♪ Oh you've been so so so so so so so ♪ ♪ So good to me ♪ ♪ One morning tonight ♪ ♪ The lows in the highs ♪ ♪ I put back on my mind ♪ ♪ And all that I see ♪ ♪ One morning tonight ♪ ♪ The lows in the highs ♪ ♪ I put back on my mind ♪ ♪ And all that I see ♪ ♪ Oh you've been so so so so so ♪ ♪ So good to me ♪ ♪ So good to me ♪ ♪ One morning tonight ♪ ♪ Oh you've been so so so so so ♪ ♪ Come on, wait a minute ♪ ♪ Oh you've been so so so so so so ♪ ♪ So good to me ♪ ♪ Oh you've been so so so so so so good to me ♪ ♪ Yes you've been so so so so so so good to me ♪ ♪ Yes you've been so so so so so so so good to me ♪ ♪ You're good ♪ ♪ Oh you've been so so so so so so so so so ♪ - We praise you today. Thank you that you are good, you and you alone. It's not another one, it's worthy of our praise or our worship. We'll just take this moment just to worship. Let's do high above it all. ♪♪

♪ I am the instrument of exaltation ♪ ♪ And I was born to lift your name above all leaves ♪ ♪ You hear the melody of all creation ♪ ♪ But there's a song of praise that only we can see ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There's no one in the Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one in the Jesus ♪ ♪ Who are worthy ♪ ♪ Out of the air ♪ ♪ And you chose to make my heart your dream ♪ ♪ You hear my brokenness ♪ ♪ Shouldn't be your glory ♪ ♪ To have songs to things not even interesting ♪ ♪ The last is worth it ♪ ♪ The last is worth it ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ The last is worth it ♪ ♪ You have such worth it ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Won't be in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worth it ♪ ♪ Who else is worth it ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worth it ♪ ♪ Who else is worth it ♪

♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh my God, I'm willing to find ♪ ♪ Who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ I just want to shed His blood ♪ ♪ You prove to us the Father's blood ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, we lift it up ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ Well, the God, the noise that won ♪ ♪ Was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ I just want to shed His blood ♪ ♪ You prove to us the Father's blood ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, we lift it up ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ Well, the God, the noise that won ♪ ♪ Who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ I just want to shed His blood ♪ ♪ You prove to us the Father's blood ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, we lift it up ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪

♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy, Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes, He's doing well ♪ ♪ Holy, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Holy, Jesus ♪ - It's for a moment church can you lean into this? As God is here in this place, not because of the building, but because people are here that are hungry for Him. And if you came today, no matter what campus you're on or if you're at home or in this room, if you came to the hungry for God, I guarantee you He is here. The God who spoke at all at two existence, the God who created us and breathed life into us, and that cares about us now. And just for a moment, can you just worship Him if you're comfortable, lift your hands to Him? The Bible actually tells us to do this as a sign of reverence and praise, that we would lift up holy hands and praise to our God. Because no one else is worthy to receive it. Not a band, not a team, not a church, not a politician, not a celebrity, only Jesus is worthy. It's Jesus. (gentle music) As we continue to worship, kind of keeping this atmosphere,

out. For all of you online, you can find some bread and juice, receive communion with us as well. I love the words of that song we're just saying because it's the gospel, is that nobody else is worthy of praise and honor and glory except for Christ, and yet He's the one that God chose His very own Son to come and give His life for us. To cover our sin and our shame and for all of humanity He did this and gives all of humanity a chance to say I want to follow you, I want to surrender my life to you. So if you've done that today, I'm going to invite you to take communion with us. And just for a moment, this is always a special time in our service to not be because of the bread and the juice, but because of what it represents. And it represents that we're stopping and pausing everything else and just remembering that man, I would not be here today if it were not for Christ and Him crucified. So maybe you need to just spend some time in prayer, maybe you need to do some confession to God. It's a great chance to do that just to say God, here's some things that I've led in my life and I need to give this to you and surrender and ask you to cover it once again. Whatever you need with God, He's here for you. Let's pray. God, each of us, we have one purpose, one main purpose on this earth, and the song just said it, God, we're an instrument of exaltation, that we would lift the name of Jesus high above every other name in our world and on this world. I said, Lord, we just do that today. Let no person know the thing, know their God take the place of the throne of our hearts except for you. Thank you that you love this so much that you can sing your Son and we worship you because of that in Jesus' name. Church, when you're ready, you can receive the elements. [Music], the elements. [Music], the elements. [Music], the elements.

[Music], the elements. [Music], the elements. [Music], the elements. [Music] [Music] Hey, Pantano. My name is Grady, and I'm so glad you're here. At Pantano, we believe change people are connected people. Community is essential because we're not meant to do life alone. When we connect with God and with others, we grow, find encouragement, and experience transformation. Whether you're looking to meet people, grow in your faith, or figure out what's next in your journey with Jesus, we want to help you get connected. If you're joining us on campus, stop by next steps after service. We'd love to meet you, answer any questions, and help you find your place here at Pantano. If you're joining us online, make sure to fill out a connect card through our next steps page. That's a great way to let us know you're here, get connected, and stay up to date with everything happening at Pantano. At Pantano, our mission is to love people to Jesus and launch passionate difference makers, and your generosity helps make that mission possible. Every gift creates opportunities for people to encounter Jesus, families to find hope, and lives to be transformed. When you give, you're investing in what God is doing through Pantano. Across our campuses, throughout our community, and around the world. You can give in three ways, simply drop your gift in a giving box on campus, give online, or text "give" to 46356. Thank you for your faithful generosity and for being part of what God is doing through Pantano. Make sure you're following We Are Pantano on social media.

That's where we keep you in the loop on events, what's happening around Pantano, and all the Thanks again for joining us. We are so glad you're here. [Music] [Music] Well, here's our painting. How are we doing? We're doing all right. [Applause] Well, hey, it's really, really good to see you today. Before we dive in, I want to do something with you today. I'm really excited to tell you about an initiative we're about to jump into as a church, as a people. There's an organization that I've been introduced to for years, Convoy of Hope. I don't know if you've heard of Convoy of Hope. They are the largest Christian relief organization in the world. They actually as a non-for-profit are the number 35 on the Forbes list of organizations and what they do to help global issues is some of the best I've ever seen in the world. And so I'm going to tell you about an initiative in a minute, but I want you to check out this video to see a little more about Convoy and then Dan Jones, our head of outreach is going to come out, and we're going to share with you something really cool we get to be a part of, so check this out. Together with Convoy, we are making hope happen. How? In 300 million different ways. When children are fed nutritious meals, the cycles of hunger and poverty are broken. That's why Convoy feeds hundreds of thousands of children every school day in nations across the world. Empowering women and girls creates opportunities that lasts for generations. That's why Convoy partners with women as they start their own business and support their families. The best solutions are grown at home. With Convoy's training and resources, local farmers create sustainable futures for themselves and everyone around them. During times of disaster, Convoy responds to make sure people know there is hope in every storm. With more than 40 million Americans living under the poverty line and one in five children in the U.S. going to bed hungry,

Convoy is committed to meeting the pressing needs of families and communities across the country. Hope and the transformation it brings can't happen without you. Partner with Convoy of Hope in bringing life-giving change to people and communities around the world. (Applause) Well, I don't know if you remember, but you've been on this stage once before, but this is Dan Jones, he is our outreach pastor. If you've not encountered Dan, you need to get to know Dan. If you want to get involved in anything, he is the guy, local and global. But I want to tell you, Convoy of Hope, what they do is not just we provide meals when there's a tragedy. How many of you guys have done Feed My Starving Children? Everybody done Feed My Starving Children? Those meals, Convoy distributes. And so, Dan, I want to ask you, because we're just getting in as a partner with Convoy, why are we partnering with Convoy of Hope? Well, first and foremost, guys, I love my job. Absolutely love it. And one of the reasons why I really love it is we really live out our mission of loving people to Jesus and launching passionate difference makers. You know, just this last month and a half, we were in Nogales helping with flood relief. We were also delivering beds. I think it was like 30 or 40 beds over the past month. You know, the kids who don't have beds. So we're able to reach out to our community and love people to Jesus in such an effective way. But Convoy of Hope acts on a global scale. It makes us look like we have little T-Rex arms, you know? So the reason that we're partnering with Convoy of Hope is because we are able to basically love people to Jesus for a global impact. Yeah. And I love what they're doing over in Nepal recently. They're the first ones that hit the ground in most issues globally. They're usually the last ones out.

Like they spend, they'll spend now three years in Nepal. They won't just come in, feed some people, give them some clothes and bounce out. They come in and they spend time in the community and they will put down roots there in the community to make sure people have what they need to get rehabilitated back into life. So we're part of a campaign that's starting this week. And it's called "One Day to Feed the World" campaign. So tell me and us, what is this campaign and how does it work? What are we doing? Well, Trevor already knows, but I'll tell you guys. (Laughter) And so what we have is a couple of days for each one of us, okay? In this first week, what we're going to do is we're going to pick a day, and on that day, as you go to your normal workplace, you are going to simply commit that day to earning wages, one day's wage, for everybody that we're trying to feed. And that's everyone in the world. Pretty daunting task, but not when we work together and we do our part. So on the second week, we will ask you to basically take the wages you've earned and then donate it to the one day to feed the world campaign. And then finally, the next service, that's when we're going to announce our results and just celebrate, more importantly, what God is doing through this campaign. And that's pretty much it, but one of the most important things is that realize that everybody earns something different, correct? But this is not, you know, asking people to donate the same amount. It's equal sacrifice, it's not equal generosity. Now the other important thing about it is there are people out there who may be in between jobs, you know, or who may be at home, but for whatever reason they aren't able to contribute. Think about it this way. Hal Donaldson, the reason why he started Convoy of Hope was because he was having a conversation with Mother Teresa, he was just interviewing and Mother Teresa stopped him and turned that interview around and said, "Young man, what are you doing to help the poor?"

He didn't want to lie to her, and he said, "Quite frankly, nothing." So she said something that transformed his life and simply said, "Just do the next kind thing." So if you're not able to donate financially, those act of kindness have a tremendous impact, such a tremendous impact that that's why we're talking about Convoy of Hope today. And so last thing, how do we get started? What do we do? What are you asking us to do today? What do we need to do this week? Like how can we jump in because just us talking about it doesn't mean magically you know what to do, right? So what do we do? Okay, guys. I'm going to do something that y'all don't do often in church, right? Everybody take your cell phones out. Mine's backstage, Dan. I can't take mine out right now. Okay, we'll get you. I know a guy. Okay, I want you guys to text "hope" to 46356. What that's going to do is it's going to send you a link. And when you follow that link, it'll allow you to pick the day this week where you're going to earn your one day's wage. What it'll also do is it'll take you to the next steps page and the landing page for Convoy of Hope, where you will be able to get tremendous amount of information about this campaign, Convoy of Hope, and how we're participating together. Awesome. Hey, thank Dan for coming out and being a part of this. Appreciate you, buddy. Here's why this is important too is, again, like you said, it's not equal gift, it's equal

sacrifice. In one day's wage, I know for some of us we're like, that's a lot of money, but I also know I've been around the globe enough to know that there's people that that generosity could change a life. And that's what we want to be a part of. And so we'd love for you to participate. Here's why else it's important, because today, we're week three of our series, Line in the Sand, and the topic today is about this little word that I'll get into in a minute. But it's basically this is a lot of churches talk about doing things for the gospel, but a lot of them don't do what they say. This campaign is for us to be able to say, hey, we're going to do what we say the church does, and we're going to love people where they are. So as we lean in today, I want to start with a confession. Now, I know some of you guys get really weird when we start talking confession like, do you'll have to stand up and do this? I don't know. But it's hard to confess things in front of large groups of people. I can tell you that. And I've kind of labored over this confession. And so I just, I need to confess something to you. And let me see if I can do this without getting really emotional. But my name is Trevor, and I'm a hypocrite. No, no, no, it's not a 12-step program. People are at high trevor, no, no, no, we're not doing that. I'm a hypocrite. Now can I let you in on a little secret, so are you. Any hypocrites? If you're not raising your hand, you're a liar. So go ahead and put them up. Okay, we're all hypocrites.

But I don't know if you've been like this, but I've said one thing and done another. I can give you more times than I can count, sometimes in the same week, occasionally in Do you ever done that one? Like where you just, you're like, what is wrong with me? And here's what I would say, if confessing from stage as your pastor that I'm a hypocrite, disqualifies me from being your pastor, we've probably got bigger problems than this message. And here's why I'm starting there is because I've heard this phrase over and over and over in my entire life of I don't go to church because Christians are just a bunch of, oh, you know the phrase too. They'll say things like, the church is full of them. I'm sure some of you right now, you're sitting here or you're online with us, by the way. Online community, we're so glad you're with us. All of you at Benson, I wanna welcome in, Timothy and Nikki in Germany. All of you at Gospel Rescue Mission, all of you on the Panda app everywhere online. Do me a favor, welcome our online audience and we're so glad you're with us. (audience applauds) But I'm sure somewhere in some of these spaces, somebody is saying, yep, that's my line in the sand and I can't cross that line. I would bet almost every one of us have heard some version of I don't go to church 'cause it's full of hypocrites.

How many of you have ever heard that phrase before? Oh, look, most of us. Some of us have said that phrase. Ironically, you're here, it's not that funny. See, some of us have even said that ourselves. That I don't go because of hypocrites. Some of you are sitting in a chair at Piantano have said that. Of all the objections people throw up between themselves and Jesus. Hypocrisy might be the most common one that I hear. And here's the thing though. I'm not gonna stand here and tell you that that objection is crazy. I'm gonna tell you it's fair, it's fair. The church is full of hypocrites. By the way, if you showed up and that's your line in the sand, you're one too. 'Cause I bet you've said something and done the opposite. But I wanna be honest with you for a second because if your line in the sand is hypocrisy in the church, can I tell you you're not wrong for noticing it? Like I've been a hypocrite not once, not twice, more times than I wanna admit. And if you've ever called yourself a Christian, you could say the same thing. See, hypocrisy is real. Hypocrisy is exhausting. Jesus himself, Jesus himself got frustrated by hypocrisy. In fact, he spent an entire chapter

in the book of Matthew, New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Matthew, going after hypocrisy. That's where he goes. Like we've spent this series, so I'm at these lines people draw in the sand. And the reasons people give for why they can't cross over. Like we talk about exclusivity of Christianity, we've talked about sexual ethic. But hypocrisy, it might be the most personal one because it's not really an objection about God. It's an objection about the people that follow God or at least say they do. It's not someone saying, I don't believe Jesus is real. It's people saying, I don't believe the people who claim him are actually really who they say they are. That's the indictment. Now, I don't know if you're like me, that stings a little, doesn't it? Actually, if you're a Christ follower, that should sting a little bit. Because I know exactly what it feels like to watch someone claim the name of Jesus and then live in a way that makes you wanna walk the other direction. Maybe you've been there too. So I'm asking you, what about you? Have you ever watched someone who claimed to follow Jesus live in a way that made you wanna run the opposite direction? Have you ever seen that?

Show of hands, anybody? Oh good, all of us, that's great. Way to go church, right? That's how I feel about that. How about this? Have you ever been the person that has made other people wanna walk away? See, if we're really honest, most of us have been on both sides of that coin. And here's what I know, nobody likes a fraud. Have you ever been frauded and thought, that was awesome. (audience laughing) So glad they were fake. I'm so glad they tricked me and stole my identity. Like, it was awesome. Nobody wants to be around a fake. We're drawn to what's real and we're usually repelled by what's not. And that instinct in you, can I just tell you, it's actually not a problem. It's actually something God put inside each and every one of us. He put that in you. So you were built to want something real. You were built for it. And so today, can I just say, especially as Christ followers, instead of getting defensive about hypocrisy, I want us to get honest about hypocrisy, because I believe Jesus already dealt with this issue head on. And I believe he can erase the line in the sand if we will let him.

And I think this is actually common ground between the church and the world around us. Because nobody wants a relationship, nobody wants a business, nobody wants a faith built on performance. That's not what we want. We all want what is real. And that longing in you is not evidence against God, I would submit its evidence that He wired you for truth in the first place. So if you're like, I don't go to church because of hypocrites, man, what a good radar you have in your system is that you want something real. So let's run straight at this topic. Let's go right into it. Matthew, chapter 23, if you've got Bibles, go ahead and open a Matthew, chapter 23. You need to understand where Jesus is. He's standing in front of the religious leaders of His day. So He's not standing in front of non-Christians. He's standing in front of the religious leaders, the teachers of law, the Pharisees. If you've heard about the Pharisees, right? They know the law. But listen to what Jesus does, verse two. He says, "The teachers of religious law "and the Pharisees are the original interpreters "of the law of Moses." Like, he's like, here's who they are.

They know the law of Moses. And then he says, "So practice or obey "whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example." Now, I gotta be honest with you, if you're one of the religious leaders and Jesus is preaching and you're like, "He's saying, do what we say." And then he throws that last line, you're like, "Wait, what? "What did Jesus say?" He says, "For they don't practice what they teach. "They crush people with unbearable religious demands "and never lift a finger to ease the burden. "Everything they do is for show. "On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes "with scripture verses inside. "They wear robes with extra long tassels. "They love to sit at the head table at banquets "in the seats of honor in the synagogue. "They love to receive respectful greetings "as they walk in the marketplace "and a be called Rabbi." And then Jesus drops the mic and walks away. Like I want you to picture that for a second. Like he's describing them, he's like, "They've got extra wide prayer boxes on their wrists." You're like, "What is that?" They used to write these things called phylacteries. They would wrap these big leather straps around their arms and have a big box on their wrist.

It would look like a watch that's not a watch, way too big. Like the original Apple watch, right? But they would stand on the corner and they would pull out scriptures on these big pieces of paper and they would stand in the corners and read their scriptures really loudly. So everybody would hear how holy they were. And then they would wear these robes and you're like, "Why does Jesus care about tassels?" Well, the tassels represented like the more tassels, the longer the tassels, the more holy you were. So they would wear their extra long tassels. So people know, "Oh, he's a Rabbi, Rabbi's." "Oh, yeah, look how many tassels he's got." Like, here's the equivalent. This would be like the person that goes to Bible study and brings the Bible so big they have to strap it in with a seat belt. You're like, "I like big books and I cannot lie." Like, right, that's what you're doing. If you get that reference, we should be friends, all right? That's awesome. Maybe it's like, like today the equivalent is we post a picture of our quiet time without actually having one. You know what I'm talking about? You put your Bible out, get your coffee set just right. Oh, I gotta put my pen in my journal right here and the sun rises right there.

And then you're like, "Okay, cool, love you Jesus, talk to you tomorrow." Like, same principle, like aesthetic over anything with Jesus. Now, here's what I say, it's not wrong to pray. It's not wrong to wear tassels. It's wrong to turn your relationship with God into a costume you wear for an audience. That's what Jesus is getting at. See, some things have not changed. We've just traded prayer boxes for filters and aesthetics. That's all we've done. And I want you to notice something important. Jesus rarely condemned what the Pharisees taught. Did you hear it? He didn't condemn their teaching. He just condemned what they did. He's like, "Oh, their teaching is amazing." They're idiots everywhere else. Like, they don't even do what they say. He condemned who they were being while they said what they said. So for the rest of the chapter, Jesus will say over and over what sorrow weights you, teachers of religious law and Pharisees, hypocrites. In fact, that word hypocrites, He calls them that six different times in one chapter. Like, yeah, that's what I love about Jesus. He just pokes the bear all the time. He just goes right after him. Jesus is not soft on this issue.

He's talking to religious leaders. He's talking to the Christian elite. He's not going after those that don't know him. He's going after those that actually do. So what actually makes someone a hypocrite? between a hypocrite and a hypocrite in recovery? Hi, my name's Trevor. I'm a recovering hypocrite. All right, see, how do you tell the difference? Well, those two things get confused constantly between a hypocrite and somebody that's trying to live out their faith. And I think there's confusion on exactly where a lot of us draw the line in the sand. So here's how I define a genuine follower of Jesus in the simplest terms possible. I'm going to give you three words, and then we're going to come back and unpack those words, okay? Here's the three things. If you're a professing person of Jesus, you profess, you are possessing and you're practicing. Professing, possessing and practicing, you're like, what do those mean? Glad you asked, let's dive in for a couple of seconds. First, a Christian is professing. So if you're working out your faith, you're trying not to be a hypocrite, you got to start with professing. So Romans chapter 10, verse nine, it says, if you openly declare that Jesus is Lord,

declare and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be what? What's it say? Saved. So that's professing. When you declare something, professing Jesus is Lord. Professing he's a savior in my life. Professing that he raised from the dead. Like you have to start there. If you don't start there, the other two make no sense. But you start with, if you're a Christ follower, we profess, how many would you say, I professed Jesus is Lord of my life. Anybody profess that, yes? Okay, good. You got step one down, way to go. But there's two more. The second one is a Christian is possessing. And you're like, that sounds weird. Halloween's right around the corner. What are we talking about, bro? Not that kind of possession. But when you profess Jesus, which those of you that just raised your hands wherever you are, like if you profess Jesus, then there's this possession of the Holy Spirit. You receive the Holy Spirit. Listen to Ephesians chapter one verse 13. It says, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth."

So you've heard the message. And then the gospel of your salvation, that's just a big word for when you were saved, when you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. So when you profess Jesus, give your life to Jesus, he says, "Now my spirit dwells within you." So the same spirit raised Jesus from the dead, the same spirit that now dwells within you and me. And so that spirit, you're like, yeah, but how do I know that there's a spirit inside of me or inside of someone else? Well, he actually tells us in Galatians chapter five how to tell what the spirit is. It's called the fruits of the spirit. You ever heard that? So if you wanna know if the spirit's in you, you have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, you're like, man, I'm not very loving, but you're working it out. So if you've been possessed by the spirit, you have the fruits of the spirit start to dwell in you. And then there's this third word. You got professing, you got possessing, but then you've got practicing. And Jesus said, "People who know we are as disciples, "they will know us by a certain way. "They will know us by the way we judge other people." No, some of you guys are like, that sounds right. No, that's not right.

They will know us by the way we spew hate. No, he says they will know us by the way we love one another is what Jesus says. So that if we love him, we love each other well. If we love him, we love others well, if we love him, we obey what he commands. We speak the truth in love. We show people the grace of Jesus. But I want you to notice what's not on that list because I'm a good preacher, all those have the same letter that they started with, right? 'Cause you got to do that. I think it's preacher one on one. Three P's to be in a Christian. You can't do P 'cause that, two P's, that sounds weird, right? But if you got three, some of you guys will get that later, that's funny. (congregation laughing) But there wasn't a fourth one. And you know what, the fourth P is not? No where on that list does he say you have to be perfect? He doesn't talk about perfection. Like professing, possessing and practicing, not perfect. And I think our culture is quietly slid perfect onto the required lists for being a Christian. And then when we inevitably fail to meet it, the whole thing gets thrown out as fake. See if that's your line in the sand, Jesus didn't even hold us perfect. But Jesus never asked anyone to be perfect

before they came to him. He asked them to come imperfect. He said come imperfect. See, imperfection is not hypocrisy. If perfect were the bark, and I tell you, I would have been disqualified from ministry in the first two hours I was in it. Maybe the first two minutes. Jesus have been like nope, sorry bro, you missed it, So what is hypocrisy? Well, I'm glad you asked that question. The word hypocrite actually comes from the Greek word. And you know what the Greek word means? An actor wearing a mask. That's what it means. The word hypocrite means an actor wearing a mask. It's a stage term described someone playing a part for an audience. Someone wearing a mask. Like they want the applause of the people. They don't want real. It's exactly what Jesus describes in Matthew 23. Everything they did, they did for show. Everything they did, they did for show. See, a hypocrite cares more about the applause of people than the approval of God. They want people to like them. A hypocrite cares more about their reputation. And what people think of them on stage than they do their character.

Who they actually are behind closed doors. See, a hypocrite is someone whose words and actions don't match. They're really good at performance or really bad at practice. Now, can I tell you, that's not the same thing as struggling and failing while actually trying to follow Jesus, that's a different thing. That's playing a part you never intended to live out. That's the line. So a follower of Jesus who stumbles is not the same as someone who never intended to actually follow Him in the first place. Are you tracking with me? So, can Christians be hypocrites? Absolutely. Are there hypocrites at Pantano? Oh, yeah. Hi, I'm the club president. See, but here's what I tell you. Whether you're a hypocrite or recovering hypocrite, God wants you where you are. He'll take you right where you're at. And I promise you that all of us at different points of our life have been hypocrites. But here's the question I want you to sit with. Does the hypocrisy of a Christian invalidate the truth of Jesus? Like ask yourself that question. Like if this is your line in the sand,

does the hypocrisy of a Christian invalidate the truth of Jesus? Let me try to illustrate it this way. Like think about somebody picking up an instrument and playing it poorly. Like, of course, when the instrument gets played badly, let me ask you, does that mean the song itself is bad? Or does this mean the one playing it's not good? Here, let me help you understand. (congregation laughing) By the way, this isn't mine, but it's gonna be for the next couple of seconds. Now, I feel proficient at certain things. (guitar playing) Now, if I try to play a solo. Nope. (congregation laughing) Does that mean this is a bad guitar? Well, let me even do one better. Javier, where are you at? Javier, can you come out here? Javier, this is his guitar. He's like, could you never do that again on my guitar? (congregation laughing) Javier, just show me the difference in what it should sound like when you shred a guitar. I didn't feel like once. (guitar playing) (guitar playing) Okay, okay, okay, that, you made me look bad.

I gotta get him off stage now. I didn't hit the right buttons. That's what it was. I didn't push all the right things down there on the floor. (congregation laughing) Let's just go with that. But here's what's interesting. Like, I butchered that, but he didn't. Like, think of it like this. If that was a Beethoven piece that I just butchered, would you go, you know what? Beethoven doesn't have to write music. Of course, you wouldn't say that because you know the difference between the song and the performance, right? See, here's what I want you to wrestle through. The song stays true even when we play it wrong. Like, just wrap your head around that. The song stays true even when we play it wrong. Jesus wrote a beautiful song of life. He wrote a beautiful way for us to live. I've just not always played it that well. I've kind of plunked around on the guitar of life. The church has not always played the song of Jesus well. Can I just tell you, that doesn't mean the song itself isn't true and beautiful. It doesn't mean that. Him. Build your decision to follow Jesus on Jesus. That's where you should build your decision to follow Jesus.

Now, hear me. That doesn't mean hypocrisy gets a free pass. You can't be like, "Oh, I got to be a hypocrite. There is my life." Jesus clearly wasn't fine with it. We shouldn't be either. And here's what you need to understand. Democracy is personal, but it's never private. It's never private. It has effects that ripple out further than we realize. It destroys trust because people trust consistency. They trust it. And a hypocrite is the opposite of consistent. Here's the other thing, it also defames the name of Jesus. It defames the name of Jesus. Paul said it like this, Romans chapter 3, verse 23 and 24, he goes, "You were so proud of knowing the law, talking about the religious. But you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder why the Scriptures say the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you." Because of you. See when I live as a hypocrite, I'm not just embarrassing myself, I'm putting a stain on the name above every name. And here's what our hypocrisy does. It actually blinds people to seeing Jesus authentically. That's what it does. I don't know if you guys get sucked into the vortex of Netflix documentaries. Anybody do this? I can't get out of it. I'm so deep now, like my algorithm just knows you should watch something messed up today. A couple of weeks ago, I flipped on Netflix.

Number one trending documentary, it caught my attention. It was called "The Death of a Pastor's Wife." I was like, "I don't like that title." And I don't have time to get into the entire documentary. If you've not seen it, I would warn you, it's messed up. Can I tell you what bothered me the most? I watched all three episodes in one sitting because that's what I do. Judge me if you need to. Can I tell you? The whole story is tragic about this pastor's wife who they find dead and I'm pretty sure he did it or somebody around him did it. That's a whole story, right? So what was sad to me is I watched that documentary, is what he was proclaiming from a platform, was not matching and lining up with the character of Jesus. And my first thought was people are going to watch this documentary and they're going to put every Christian, every pastor, every church through the lens of this guy in this documentary. And his hypocrisy has blinded a lot of people to Jesus. I pray that we're never those people. See, while you're trying to figure this out, understand this, that when you're consistent and kind, here's what I know. When you're consistent and kind, someone can disagree with you and still wrestle honestly with the truth. If you're just consistent and kind. But when you're a hypocrite, all they see is inconsistency. And that becomes the excuse to walk away from Jesus entirely even though it was never really Jesus they rejected and yet they'll walk away from Jesus. See, Christianity is almost always caught before it's taught, almost always. People don't primarily learn what following Jesus looks like from a sermon. They learn it by watching how we live, how we live our lives.

That's what makes hypocrisy so dangerous. People around a hypocrite don't catch the real thing. They catch a counterfeit and then walk away thinking they've rejected Jesus when they've only rejected a bad impression of Jesus. It's like the Timu version of Jesus. If you shop on Timu, you know exactly what I'm talking about. See, remember, the song stays true even when we play it wrong. It's just that somebody must actually play the real song for people to hear it. So what does this mean for you today? Well, if you're a follower of Jesus, let me lean in with you. The next time someone calls you a hypocrite, can I ask you to do something? Don't be defensive first. Don't be defensive. Like getting defensive, you know what that actually does? It just proves the point that already exists in people's minds. Instead, what if you pause and look in the mirror before you look for an excuse? And then here's how you blow their mind. Ask yourself, first of all, is there any truth in what they're saying? And if it is, do this to them. It'll blow their minds. Go, you know what? You're right. I'm sorry. I'm like, wait, what? We're supposed to fight now. Oh, no, no, no. You know what, thanks for pointing it out. And if you really wanna thank, like really disarm them, that accusation, just thank them, go, thank you so much.

If you actually see anything else to me, could you tell me? You know what they're gonna do? They're gonna be like, I don't know what's happening right now. This is not what I expected. See, that kind of humility is something the world almost never sees, and it will always get their attention faster than any argument can make. Nobody wakes up and decides, you know what, today, I think I'm gonna be a hypocrite from here on out. You ever done that? You just woke up one day and you're like, "Time to be a hypocrite, here we go." Woo, sees the day. Just kidding, I won't even do that 'cause I'm a hypocrite. See, but every one of us can slide into it without noticing. So how do we keep from sliding into hypocrisy? Five things really quickly. You're like your preacher, there's no way it can be quick. I promise you'd be quick. Here's the first one, be consistent. If you wanna slide out of hypocrisy, be consistent, know what you actually believe straight from words like the words of God. Not built on a version in your own head, and then live like what God calls you to. Every day, be consistent.

Like this is your spiritual gym, like show up to the spiritual gym every day, be consistent. Here's the second thing. After you decide, hey, I'm gonna be consistent in my walk with Jesus, here's the second thing, imitate Jesus. Like imitate Jesus. You're like, this sounds so simple, I know, right? Yeah, we screw it up all the time. Here's what I know, the closer you get to actually knowing Jesus, not just knowing about Him, the harder it becomes to fake it. Like I know a lot of people that know a lot about Jesus, but you can tell they don't know Jesus. But the people that you know know Jesus, you're like, there's something different about those people. They can't fake that. So imitate Jesus, get close enough to know Jesus, not know about Jesus, here's the third thing. Imitate others who are imitating Jesus well. Imitate others who are imitating Jesus well. Like Paul told the Corinthians, and a lot of people hear this and they're like, he's kinda arrogant, I don't think that's what he's doing. But he does say, you should imitate me just as I imitate Christ. How do we know if someone's imitating Christ? Galatians five, fruits of the spirit. Are they loving? Are they joyful?

Are they full of peace? Do they love joy, peace, patience? Are they patient? Are they kind? Do they have self-control? Like when you find those people, imitate those people 'cause they're imitating Christ. Like I can tell you, like Susie who's playing drums back here, I don't know if you know Susie, Susie is one of the most humble people of Jesus I know. Like when she prays, I'll tell you, you gotta hear her prayers. I've seen him heal people of things that she's prayed over. I'm like, I wanna be like Susie. Yeah, can she shred on the drums? Absolutely. If she never touches a drum again, it doesn't matter. Because who she imitates is Jesus so well. Like you know those bracelets back in the day, what would Jesus do? You could even be like, what would Susie do? And what would Jesus do? Because Susie's gonna do what Jesus would do. I know some of y'all are gonna make a shirt. What would Susie do? Do it, put her picture on it, it'd be great. (congregation laughing) Hebrews 13-7 says, remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives

and follow the example of their faith. When you see people living out, Jesus follow their faith because they're following Jesus. Imitate Jesus as they imitate Jesus. Here's the fourth thing, serve. Serve. You're like, really, that's it, serve? Yeah. Like Jesus said he came to serve, not be served. So maybe we should follow Jesus and serve. See, service takes the focus off of us. Look, why would we promote convoy of hope and giving up a day's wage for one day out of here? By the way, Pantano, can I tell you? I think we can blow that out of the water. I think we can help literally thousands upon thousands of lives globally with one day. Like just one day. Like imagine just some of you, you've gone to serve our city. Some of you have gone to Rocky Point. Some of you have gone to Gospel rescue. Some of you have just walked the streets of our city and served other people. Isn't it amazing when you do that? It is serving actually starves hypocrisy. It actually starves it. Because the more you serve, the more hypocrisy has to slide out.

Here's the fifth thing, walk in humility. Walk in humility. Can I tell you the prayer I've created more times than I can count? God help me humble myself so you don't have to do it. 'Cause I can tell you one way or another, we'll get humbled. You can choose humility or God can choose it for you. Now, here's what I tell you. Humility doesn't make you invincible, but it makes hypocrisy incredibly hard to sustain. [BLANK_AUDIO] that's, no, and you're not, 'cause you just said that. (audience laughs) You're like, "No, seriously, I'm super humble. "I love when people tell me I'm really humble." Oh, really? Well, you just lost it. It's gone. (audience laughs) Humility doesn't have to tell people. You ever meet those people that you know they're kind of a big deal, but they're never gonna tell you they're a big deal? And you start digging and you're like, "Oh, I knew it." And they're like, "Oh, but that's nothing." It's like, "Really, nothing, huh?" Okay. You've just been on stage in front of 100,000 people.

That's nothing. Oh, you just did this job? That's nothing. I love those people though, because humility is what leads their life. They're not trying to be hypocrites. And here's what I know about our culture right now. The assumption walking in the door is that Christians are hypocrites. We're starting from a deficit that other believers created before we even open our mouths. We're in a deficit. So let's be aware of that, but let's refuse to add to it. Let's be who we say we're gonna do. Let's make sure our life matches our lips. So as a church, let's be known less for our performance and more about our honesty. I really, with all my heart, believe that's what sets Pantano apart in our city. In our county, in our campuses, it's not flawless reputation, but it will be a real one. It will be a real one. And if hypocrisy in the church is genuinely your line in the sand, please hear me. Don't miss this. Don't dismiss Jesus because of people who claim his name, but haven't lived out his name in their lives. Don't dismiss Jesus.

Don't judge the composer by the worst cover band to ever play the song. Don't do that. The song stays true even when we play it wrong. Here's what I know. People will disappoint you. How many of you have been disappointed by a human being ever? Show of hands? That's all of us. Can I just tell you, I will disappoint you. You're like, "Bro, you've done that a long time ago." That's okay. I will. You know how I know I will? 'Cause I'm human just like you. I'll disappoint you. Here's what I will tell you. Jesus never will. Jesus won't disappoint. So base your decisions about him on him. So my name is still Trevor, and I'm a recovering hypocrite. One imperfect note at a time. I'm trying to recover. But here's what I know about me, and I hope this about you. I'd rather spend my entire life fumbling through the song of Jesus

than never picking up the instrument at all. I'd rather clank through it and eventually go, "Hey, I feel like that sounds familiar." And my other hope is you'll pick it up with me. That you'll start trying to play that song. A song that's not about you, but it's about him. And if you're here today, and this is your line of the same, can I just tell you from the bottom of my heart, I'm really sorry. Of the times we as the church, be as a pastor, that we've not lived up to Jesus. So I hope you come in with an umbrella of grace. And also know that we're all trying to stand under that umbrella with you. And so what I want to do is I want to pray for you. Each week of this series, we're giving you a deeper dive guide that you can do on your own or with a group. If you want to text the word dive to 46356, that'll come straight to your phone. You get a PDF, it'll dig in deeper to this topic. You can use it for daily devotions this week. You know, the one you take the picture of, but haven't done yet. You can actually do it this week. Okay, that'd be great. But I want you to get that guy dive in and let's be a people

that actually are who we say we are and live out the gospel of Jesus. So the world around us, we'll start to hear the right song. Do me a favor if you would. Steam where you are, I want to pray with you. And then our team is going to lead us in a time of just reflection, decision that we would be the people that God's called us to. Let's pray Father today. God, thank you for being a God that loves the hypocrite, that's willing to call it out, but is also willing to love us through it. God, I think of Paul's life, or he was living hypocritically. God, how you changed his heart. He changed the world through him. And God, I think about countless lives after that, that we're living one way, but then found you and started living towards you. God, I pray that you would give those of us that have struggled in this area, a gentle heart with those who accuse us of this area. God, I thank you that they want something real. God, I pray that they would begin to see the real you, that they would base the relationship with you off of you, and then figure out how to help us each be more humble. So, God, we love you, we thank you. Thanks for being patient with us. Thanks for being humble with us, sending your son

and all humility to die for us. So, God, we love you, and we give you our lives, we give you our souls, our hearts, our minds, into the powerful name of a very humble Jesus. We pray all these things, all God's people said. Amen, love you, church. (audience applauds) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Here is where I lay down ♪ ♪ Every burden, every crown ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ Here is where I lay down ♪ ♪ Every lie and every doubt ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ This, and I will make room for you ♪ ♪ To whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And I will make room for you, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ To do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ Here is where I lay down ♪ ♪ Every burden, every crown ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ Here is where I lay down ♪ ♪ Every lie and every doubt ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ I will make room for you ♪

♪ To do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And I will make room for you, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ To do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ To do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And I will make room for you ♪ ♪ To do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to do ♪ ♪ And I will make room for you ♪ ♪ To do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ You have your way ♪ ♪ Oh, you need a way ♪ ♪ Take off the ground with all my traditions ♪ ♪ Break down the walls of all my religion ♪ ♪ Oh, it's better ♪ ♪ Oh, it's better ♪ ♪ Shake off the ground with all my traditions ♪ ♪ Break down the walls of all my religion ♪ ♪ Oh, it's better ♪ ♪ Oh, it's better ♪ ♪ Shake off the ground with all my traditions ♪ ♪ Break down the world ♪ We'll always better Shake up the ground, all my traditions Break down the wall We'll always better You'll always better I'll make room for you, words To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to

And I will make room for you, oh To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to Here is where I lay it down You all I'm chasing now This is my surrender This is my surrender Here is where I lay it down You all I'm chasing now This is my surrender This is my surrender Jesus, thank you that you've called us Thank you that you have chosen us To be in carriers of your life To imitate you, to model To the world who you are, Jesus And though we are going to do that imperfectly I pray that every single one of us We'll pick up the instrument, we will do our best Because you deserve God All that we have Jesus, let us love people to you Every chance that we get And let us step out of the way And let you do what only you can do It's a normal name we pray Amen, everybody say amen Amen, thank you guys so much for being here Have a great week [Music]

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