“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” – Philippians 1:15-18 KJV

Just as there were people who used the gospel for selfish ambition during Paul’s time, many are doing the same today. Unfortunately, many discouraged people have left the church as a result of this, and many more refuse to give their lives to Christ for the very same reason. Have you ever felt like giving up on the church because of hypocrisy? Do you feel uncomfortable being around other Christians because you just don’t know who they really are behind closed doors? Are you having a hard time trusting other Christians because you’ve been hurt by people who claimed to be one with Jesus? Whatever the case may be, there’s a lesson to be learned in what Paul had said in the passage above. And that lesson is this: don’t let the behavior of others distract you from looking to Jesus Christ and carrying out His will for your life. Instead, keep your eyes on Him at all times, believing that He is at work, and will accomplish everything that He has begun to do within the hearts of His people. In other words, no matter how bad people may look, ultimate goodness will prevail in the end!

Listen, even though there are people in the church who are cold and callous and only interested in furthering their own plans, there are faithful people too, who love the Lord and His people. Take Paul for example: he was in chains for preaching the gospel–not having been wealthy by any measure of the world, yet he was faithful to the cause for which he stood, and ultimately died for his faith in Christ. He didn’t isolate himself from the church for fear that he might get hurt by a few bad seeds, but always looked for opportunities to share his gifts with God’s people. Indeed, Paul longed to be free from his chains; not for the sake of wanting to indulge in worldly pleasures, but because he wanted to be a blessing to others. And just as God’s children have faults today, they had faults back then too. Yet Paul still longed to be with his brothers and sisters in Christ. And we should foster the same attitude that he had towards others.

Therefore, don’t be discouraged by hypocrites; rather, look to Jesus Christ instead. For He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and will always do what is best for you. Moreover, keep in mind that as long as the gospel is preached that means there’s work to be done; and as long as there’s work to be done, there are precious souls who need to be saved. That said, we need to be busy about doing the work that will lead people to salvation. But in order to do that we must stop focusing all of our attention on the faults of others, and look to Jesus Christ instead, rejoicing in His presence each step of the way. In this way we will actually accomplish something wonderful through Christ, and many hearts will be turned to God; even hypocrites will turn from their evil ways.