21st Century Burning Bushes
Chapter 18
The Hypocrisy Crisis
Young Outsiders
Percentage of young people outside the church who cite hypocrisy as a top negative perception of Christianity
Jesus’ Warnings
Number of times Jesus called out religious leaders for hypocrisy in Matthew 23
Christians Killed
Christians martyred in Nigeria since 2009, while Western church focuses on comfort
The Burning Bush of Christian Hypocrisy and Apostasy
Christian hypocrisy, particularly among leaders, has severely damaged the church’s witness and credibility. The “fish stinks from its head” proverb aptly describes how moral failures undermine Christianity’s message.
Moral Failures That Damage the Witness
Sexual Immorality
Leaders falling into sexual sin while preaching purity
Financial Corruption
Misuse of church funds and exploitation of congregants
Power Struggles
Abuse of authority and manipulation of believers
Violence and Abuse
Physical and emotional harm inflicted by those claiming to represent Christ
Jesus’ Condemnation of Hypocrisy
The gap between professed beliefs and actual behavior creates a major barrier to faith, especially when those claiming to represent Christ fail to embody His teachings.
Jesus devoted significant attention in Matthew 23 to condemning the hypocrisy of religious leaders. This directly contradicts the witness Christians are called to maintain in the world.
Hypocrisy vs. Apostasy
Hypocrisy
Failing to live by beliefs you still claim to hold. Maintaining outward religious appearance while denying its power through behavior.
Apostasy
Abandoning your beliefs entirely. Total rejection of Christ and moral principles. Derived from Greek meaning “rebellion” or “defection.”
Both weaken the church’s effectiveness, but apostasy represents a complete departure from faith.
The Comprehensive Nature of Apostasy
Billy Graham emphasized that apostasy affects every dimension of life, not just theology. Paul’s warning in 2 Thessalonians about a “falling away” before the day of the Lord points to this comprehensive breakdown.
The characteristics Paul lists in 2 Timothy 3—self-love, pride, lack of self-control, brutality, and love of pleasure over God—describe those who maintain a superficial “form of godliness” while denying its transformative power.
Don’t Be a Hypocrite
Gary Hamrick’s powerful sermon on Matthew 23 addresses Jesus’ warnings about religious hypocrisy.
Watch: Don’t Be a Hypocrite | Matthew 23 | Gary Hamrick
Responding to “Christians are Hypocrites!”
Frank Turek provides practical guidance on how to respond when people criticize Christianity for hypocrisy.
Watch: Frank Explains How to Respond to “Christians are Hypocrites!”
The Apostasy Crisis
Understanding the current apostasy crisis requires examining both its theological roots and practical manifestations in contemporary Christianity.
Watch: Examining Modern Apostasy
The Solution: Internal Transformation
“We can lessen hypocrisy in the church when we realize that being a Christian involves more than having a profession of Jesus; it involves Jesus’s coming to live within us by His Spirit, changing us from the inside.” – William L. Kynes
Read more: Why Are Christians So Hypocritical? – C.S. Lewis Institute
Billy Graham on Seminary Apostasy
“In many of our seminaries there is a mad scramble for scholarship, and people are sacrificing clear Biblical teaching upon the altar of so-called scholarship. Many come out of our seminaries today with no Gospel—they are confused and bewildered.”
Source: Today’s Apostasy – Billy Graham
The Burning Bush of God’s Kingdom and His Angels
God created a hierarchical Kingdom with Himself as supreme King over supernatural and earthly beings. Jesus came not to establish a religion, but to proclaim this Kingdom and start a revolution.
A Beautiful Revolution
According to George Boyd, Jesus’ mission wasn’t about religious beliefs, behaviors, or political agendas, but about manifesting God’s beautiful character and revolting against everything inconsistent with it—”a beautiful revolution.”
Through parables like the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price, Jesus emphasized the Kingdom’s supreme value, showing that discovering it brings such joy and recognition of its worth that one willingly sacrifices everything to obtain it.
The Kingdom’s Ultimate Destiny
Current Age
Battle between Satan’s and God’s kingdoms
Christ’s Return
Signs of imminent return and final separation
New Creation
Unified new Heaven and Earth with God’s manifest presence
This culmination represents not an ending but a beginning—the ultimate destiny for God’s people.
The Hierarchical Kingdom
Supreme King
God reigns as the ultimate authority over all creation, both visible and invisible realms.
Angelic Beings
Supernatural creatures with different ranks, roles, and abilities serving God’s purposes.
Humanity
Earth-bound beings created in God’s image with unique purpose and destiny in the Kingdom.
Consider the Lilies with Howard Snyder
Howard Snyder explores Jesus’ teaching about God’s Kingdom through the lens of creation and divine provision.
Watch: Consider the Lilies with Howard Snyder
Angels are an Elder Race
Understanding angels as an elder race created before humanity provides crucial context for their role in God’s Kingdom and human history.
Watch: Angels are an Elder Race
The Upside-Down Kingdom
God’s Kingdom operates on principles that seem upside-down to worldly wisdom—the last shall be first, the greatest must be servant of all, and losing your life means finding it.
Watch: The Upside-Down Kingdom
The Unseen Realm: The Divine Council
Throughout the Bible, there is a consistent motif involving a celestial assembly composed of divine beings who work in concert with God. The prophets held a solemn responsibility to announce the presence of God’s kingdom to the people.
The idea of a divine assembly illuminates the distinctive characteristics of an Old Testament prophet and elucidates the rationale for God’s choice of particular persons for this role. Individuals who have had encounters with the sacred are acknowledged as authentic emissaries of the divine realm.
Michael Heiser’s Unseen Realm
Read: The Unseen Realm Summary – Michael S. Heiser
Watch: The Unseen Realm Explained
Dr. Heiser’s groundbreaking work reveals the supernatural worldview of the Bible that most modern readers miss.
Kingdom Membership and Mission
Proclamation
Jesus Christ came to proclaim this Kingdom to all nations
Membership
Establishing membership within God’s Kingdom through faith
Community
Building a community of believers who live by Kingdom principles
Living as Kingdom Citizens
Understanding God’s Kingdom transforms how we live in the present age. We are called to be Kingdom citizens now, living by heavenly principles while still on earth, demonstrating the reality of God’s rule through our lives.
This requires recognizing both the visible and invisible dimensions of reality, understanding spiritual warfare, and maintaining hope in the ultimate victory and restoration that awaits God’s people.
The Call to Recognize the Burning Bushes
Will We See?
Throughout Volume III, we’ve examined the cultural, moral, and spiritual Burning Bushes of the 21st Century. From woke ideology to moral decadence, from New Age deception to secret societies, from Christian hypocrisy to God’s eternal Kingdom—each reveals something crucial about our times.
The question remains: Will we recognize what the Creator is teaching through these signs? Will we respond with biblical clarity, spiritual discernment, and unwavering faith? The challenges are unprecedented, but so is the opportunity to be faithful witnesses in a confused and hostile age.