“The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny him with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Brennan Manning

Hypocrisy is not the gap between ____________________ and what we _______________________

Hypocrisy is the gap between who we ___________________ and who we _____________________!

hupokrites; an actor; stage-player, one who _______________________________________________.

Titus 1:16 NLT
Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.
They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Matthew 23:2-3 NIV
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.
But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”

Matthew 23:27-28 NIV
“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 the bones of the dead 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.

THE BIG IDEA: 

Jesus has _____________ for hypocrisy,

But ____________ for sinners in ________________!

John 8:7-11 NIV
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first
to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left,
with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her,
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Proverbs 28:13 NLT
People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

Psalm 139:23-24 NLT
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

We don’t close the gap with _______________, we close the gap with _____________!