Missions Hypocrisy in the Local Church

Ask people in the community, and they will tell you that they don't go to church, because "the church is full of hypocrites." My response is always that "I would rather be in church with a few hypocrites than to be in hell with all of them." In this post, I'm going to take a position of agreement with those outside the church in an effort to point out a familiar and prominent form of hypocritical behavior as it relates to missions and evangelism in the local church.

I have always been part of local churches that are very evangelistic and have a heart for world missions. Several years ago, while pastoring in the Deep South, I was deeply bothered by a trend that I noticed... churches were giving money to support world missions; but those same congregations did not want to share Christ with their neighbors or build relationships with people of a different skin color. Since first noticing that issue, I've come to discover this practice occurs frequently. How hypocritical for white people to say they love black people in Africa, while refusing to love the dark-skinned people in their local communities (and vice versa).

Recently, I heard of a church that removed community outreach from its annual budget, but collected a special offering to assist the Hurricane Harvey flood victims in Texas. While that is definitely a noble cause, I suggest it is hypocritical to raise money to send to TX, when you refuse to reach those in your own back yard. In addition, how sad that churches are willing to raise money to meet social needs after a flood; but are not willing to spend money to share Christ with their communities.

I believe God places churches in strategic locations, with the purpose of reaching local communities. That said, the local church body should look like a cross representation of its local community! To preach that "God is love" and then refuse to love all people... to sing "Red, yellow, black & white they are precious in His sight" and then to build a church catering to people of only one ethnicity... to send money overseas to reach people, while ignoring those in our own backyard... to go on missions trips, but refuse to share Christ with our neighbor... THESE ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF HYPOCRISY!

So, I challenge pastors, parishioners, and anyone who says that evangelism is important to you; will you begin to share Christ with the people in your neighborhood? Will you include funds for community outreach in your church's annual budget? Will you strive to make your church look like a mirror of the races represented in your community? Will you strive to expand evangelism to a way of life, rather than a single, once per year event! When a congregation claims to be missions-minded, while letting those in their own community go to hell; it fans the flames for those who say the church is full of hypocrites. Let's make the changes necessary to refute that statement, rather than to represent it.