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Answer:

Hypocrisy is the act of pretense whereby a person professes a belief or moral standard that is contrary to what he actually possesses.

An example would be a person who loudly condemns everyone who commits adultery, but in private, when no one is looking, regularly commits adultery without remorse. This is different from a person who commits sins on various occasions, but each time, genuinely seeks repentance. A hypocrite therefore, according to this definition, is not a Christian since he only pretends to believe in the faith when he actually doesn’t. It is true that there are many in churches who are hypocrites, but we should not confuse them with true believers who occasionally fall into sin. This also means that we should not conclude that Christianity is false just because there are hypocrites in the church. The failure of false converts cannot in anyway discredit the truth of the gospel in the same way a boy setting a house on fire discredit the usefulness of fire.

Having said that, Jesus reserved some of his harshest criticisms for the hypocrites in his day. Jesus criticised those who gave to the poor in order to gain recognition from others (Matt 6:2), prayed loudly in public to publicize one’s own righteousness (Matt 6:5), fast from meals in a manner to gather recognition from others (Matt 6:16), condemn others for their sins while themselves committing the same sins much more seriously(Matt 7:5), Honouring God with their lips but without the right attitude (Matt 15:7-9), preventing people from coming to God (Matt 23:13), etc.
Jesus told these hypocrites that unless they repent, they would go to hell (Matt 24:51); indicating that these were not believers. In the last days, many would profess to be believers but are actually false converts and hypocrites. Matt 7:21-23 writes, “”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ These were people Jesus said he never knew, that is, they were never truly saved at any point in time. They were false converts who professed to be Christians but were not (hypocrites by definition).

Although Jesus often criticized the hypocrites of the Pharisees, he never condemned them for the righteousness they stood for in public. The charge of hypocrisy was not an attack on the morality they preached but on their failure to live up to it. They were also criticized for not believing the Scriptures they memorized. The Pharisees were hypocrites and unbelievers – not true converts who sin and genuinely seek repentance.
Matt 23:1-3 writes, “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you–but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice’.”
John 5:46-47  “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Jesus actually told his listeners to be more righteous than even the Pharisees. (Matt 5:20)
The outrage at a hypocritical preacher highlights the innate recognition that something good has been debased and that the preacher has failed in meet the standard he proclaims. “Hence the saying, ‘Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue.’ It stands to reason that saying the right thing and doing the wrong thing is better than saying AND doing the wrong thing.1”

Although Christians are often accused of being hypocrites, Jesus warns that hypocrites are not Christians, and unless they repent, will go to hell. We have to be careful however, to distinguish hypocrites from true believers who although sin at time, genuinely repent of their sins before God.

On the other hand, everybody sins at some point or another. This highlights the sinful nature that is in every man. Because of the fall of Adam, we are all born dead in our trespasses. There is not one person who can keep all the commandments of God, nor is there any that is righteous (Romans 3:10-28). Because of this, we all stand condemned in our sins before God. The solution is to place our faith in Jesus: that Jesus was born of God sinless, died on the cross as a perfect substitute in our place to pay the penalty for our sins, to satisfy the wrath of God that is upon us, and that by placing our faith in him, we are declared to be righteous because not because of what we have done, but because of what God has done on our behalf. Everyone, Christian or not do not live up to the perfect standard of God. In this sense, everyone is guilty of the sin of hypocrisy at sometimes; and it is precisely because we are all guilty, that we need to be saved through Jesus Christ.

Whatever your experience of ‘Christians’ or religious people, don’t let that turn you off pursuing God. There is false religion, there are hypocrites but there is also true Christianity, full of the love and grace of God the Father. Don’t stay away from churches but do find a church where the gospel is central and the people are humble.

To read more on how various aspects of Christian living can only be lived out when a believer is in the midst of a local body of believers, refer to these related questions:

- Why are Christians such hypocrites?
- I don’t believe in God because of hypocrites. Is that right?

Bibliography
Wieland, C. (2006). “The Haggard tragedy: ‘Christianity must be wrong because of all the hypocrites in the church!’.” from http://creation.com/the-haggard-tragedy