Essay Sample: The Worst Kind of Hypocrite is a Religious Hypocrite

Religion has always been a symbol of piety, meekness as a gesture of reverential subscription to the faith, peace, and comfort within ones heart and a close to mythical confidence that empowers the believer to think more about the afterlife and dissuade men from living in the present. The religious decry of the filthy state of man and the pathetic hypocrisy of the human race that has sprouted as malignant cancer and devoured man from his roots up. But then again, the question that keeps emerging is that, if the world has gone corrupt and men grope and wade through murkiness with vanity in trying to attain the ideal life, have not the religious folk who regularly deface the common man also taken part in the same corruption they condemn?

Indeed the Bible may claim that the Lord was sorry for having created man and destroyed him the flood of Noah (KJV, Genesis 6:6) and torched them in Sodom and Gomorrah (KJV, Genesis 19:25) and yet saved them through Jesus (KJV, John 3:16). In condemning man, the religious man who prophesies the goodness of the Lord and the necessity of living in piety to dine with the Lord in the spirit and forever in eternity implicitly claims that they have risen above such corruptive practices such as lasciviousness, living lavishly in a corrupt world, or even supporting a war that destroys lives, property, and the human spirit. That, however, does not seem to be the case. Jesus has endured shame at the hand of religious hypocrisy.

For instance, according to Burnetts argument, pastors have assumed a sheep in a goats skin syndrome where they preach contentment with what one has, serving the Lord with all your substance, working with one hands, and not holding back whenever one has the chance to help others. However, with pastors and evangelists growing richer, asking for more contributions from the audiences to enrich themselves, and banking hefty paycheck, it becomes apparent that they are equally corrupt and entrapped in the filthy world they so reject. The hypocrisy climbs a notch higher as they use biblical examples of such figures as King Solomon, Job, Joseph, and Abraham and their unmatched wealth yet remained the faithful of the Lord. However, the Biblical context under which such wealthy figures as Job and Solomon emerged is utterly different. Would they be willing to lose everything like Job did and remain the faithful of the Lord?

Indeed, the worst kind of hypocrite is a religious hypocrite. Such a hypocrite compels the congregation to do as they say because they are not the authors of the words they speak yet do the contrary and return to condemn his brethren as souls sold to the devil. They are essentially traitors, akin to Judas Iscariot that led the soldiers ultimately crucify the Lord, not thinking that their act was both the impulsion of an evil and naive man and the fulfillment of a prophecy. It would not be appropriate that those charged with leading the congregation exhibit hypocrisy with such a stark arrogance and shamelessness, and with little thought on its effect to those with little faith. Such hypocrites are indeed to blame for the tainted name of the Christian faith. A religious hypocrite mingles and mangles both evil and holy alike, making them a detestable soul and a scourge to the believer.

Works Cited

Burnett, John. Onscreen But Out Of Sight, TV Preachers Avoid Tax Scrutiny. NPR, 2 Apr. 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/04/02/298373994/onscreen-but-out-of-sight-tv-preachers-avoid-tax-scrutiny. Accessed 11 July 2017.

The Bible. King James Version, Bible League, 2007.