for those disillusioned with the faith

a liturgy for the soul exhausted by hypocrisy

for those disillusioned with the faith

a liturgy for those exhausted by hypocrisy

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O Christ who lived a life of truth,

.

I come before you disillusioned in the knowledge of hypocrisy.

exhausted by the words,

the deeds,

and the lives of those who claim Your name,

and declare they speak for Your Kingdom.

.

Lord, I see the way we fail You

the way we distort Your words and purposes, not to serve, but to

cater to our own perverse wills and desires.

I see the abuse,

the lies,

the manipulation,

the compromise,

and I am weary of it.

.

if only your bride, the church, was pure!

a beautiful gift for You, the holy bridegroom—

clean in heart, innocent in intent!

.

alas, our veil is stained by mud

dirty with the sins we cling to and hide beneath the wedding clothes.

clear to the attentive eye,

revealed to an eager, watching world,

undermining all we say You are.

.

oh, that we did not stain Your name!

make light of Your sacrifice!

mock the cross by the very example of our lives!

.

I am weary, Lord.

weary of the hypocrisy I see in others,

and the hypocrisy I see in myself.

.

yet I have hope.

.

for You have promised to make Your bride pure

to redeem her in all of her unfaithfulness.

.

because of that, I trust.

.

I trust that no sin, no failing, no lie, and no farce can undermine Your intent,

Your purposes,

Your Will for mankind.

.

I trust,

knowing that though there was a lustful, abusive man

who preyed on the soul of a child in the aisle of Your church,

there were also other men,

men that loved You above all,

and loved their children accordingly,

protecting them with their own lives,

sacrificing their all for the good of their children.

.

I trust,

knowing that though there was a greedy coward,

one who cheapened Your Words to make himself wealthy,

there was another man,

a man who gave his very life,

spilled his own blood,

because he would not deny Your truth.

I trust that his sacrifice is one among a hundred thousand others.

.

I trust that for the woman

who forsake the identity you gave to Her,

and claimed You did not care,

that You applauded her lie,

and embraced her deceit of self,

there was yet another woman,

who embraced the body you gave to her,

choosing to be content in Your holy will,

rather than be seduced by the discontent of the world.

.

I trust that for the weak soul,

who compromised the Words of the Scripture,

who sacrificed the strength of truth in the name of “love”,

there was another who stood firm for You,

speaking honestly even when it hurt,

even when it was hard,

even when no one listened.

.

yes, Lord, I trust!

I trust that You protect Your own,

that You bring them to Yourself,

that You forgive the sins of the repentant,

and that Your will shall always be done.

.

no human failing can undermine You, Father.

.

I trust that You raise Abrahams and Sarahs,

Wilberforces and Chestertons,

Davids and Samuels,

Tolkiens and Lewis’,

Gideons, and Augustines,

men and women who change the world,

who do Your will, though imperfectly;

who make the faith beautiful,

while refusing to compromise what is right and good.

.

I trust that You will redeem Your church,

Your bride.

.

for Christ, you have promised to save us,

and you have promised to save me.

.

so Father, take this disillusionment,

my frustrations with the failings of men,

and turn it to praise for You,

an awe for the work of Your Kingdom,

for the beauty You have wrought,

the redemption you have made in Your Son,

despite our frequent failings.

.

-Amen

---

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“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.”

– Matthew 23:27-28

“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

-Ephesians 5:25-27

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

-James 1:22

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The great undermine of the Christian faith will always be the hypocrisy of its members.

It’s exhausting. It’s discouraging. We fight for the faith with our very lives, and yet we open the news every week to hear of another major Christian sex scandal, fraud, or abuser.

But we should be encouraged. Christ has promised to redeem us in the midst of our failings. He forgives us when we repent, and he will not allow the mimics and the false teachers to continue to prey on His true sheep.

Thank you for taking the time to read this little liturgy.

I hope it spoke to you in some way.