Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. [Romans 2:21-23 (NLT)]
While yesterday’s story of the testy foul-mouthed grandpa was funny, it was also sad. That grouchy man with the bad vocabulary claims to be a God-fearing Christian and yet he thought nothing of losing his patience and taking God’s name in vain when annoyed by a little boy! His story points out the complaint so many have about the Christian church—we’re just a bunch of hypocrites!
I know a young pastor, raised in a church family, who was so disillusioned by the hypocrisy he saw that he gave up on God. Fortunately, God didn’t give up on him and He eventually came to Christ. I have several Roman Catholic friends who have left Christianity because of the hypocrisy they saw regarding priestly abuse in the church. The news has been filled with various preachers, celebrities, and politicians, claiming to be Christians with high moral values, who have been knocked off their pedestals with assorted scandals. Unfortunately, their public unmasking throws mud on the entire church.
In actuality, we all are guilty of hypocrisy. It’s just that, for most of us, our hypocrisy is rarely publicized. Nevertheless, just because our falseness isn’t exposed on the media doesn’t mean we’re any less guilty of it. Sometimes, all it takes is a little child’s repetition of our words to convict us!
Knowing that our behavior is our witness, we tend to focus on outward appearances and wear a false face of righteousness. Eventually, however, that perfect persona cracks, our hypocrisy is evident, and our witness becomes worthless. The best witnesses to the power of Christ are the Christians who are the most open and honest about their own weaknesses. When someone says we should forgive and doesn’t, that’s hypocrisy. When someone says we should forgive but confesses to difficulty doing so, that’s honesty. None of us are perfect and we all struggle with sin; why is that so hard for us to admit?
I write about praying and reading the Bible but do neither of them enough. I write about trusting God but I worry. I write about having a strong faith but have moments of doubt and even though I write about letting God lead me, I resist handing Him the reins! I would be a hypocrite if I denied being the terribly flawed person I am. My hypocrisy is in the pointing of my finger at the grumpy grandpa when I, too, have been known to let loose with a string of profanity! Admitting our flaws is not the same as accepting them and, like the Apostle Paul, we continue to be works in progress. Although better than we were, none of us are a good as we could be!
There’s not one Christian who completely lives up to the standard set by the Bible. Rather than trying to appear perfect on the outside, we must let God repair us from the inside. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can progress toward the goal of becoming more like Christ. Just because we haven’t attained that goal doesn’t make us hypocrites, it simply makes us human.
While visiting a church recently, the pastor announced a new security precaution: ten minutes after the service started, the outside doors would be locked from the inside and no one could enter the building. Yesterday afternoon, another church offered a four hour class for their congregation. Led by a private security company, topics included ways to identify threats, how to develop layers of security, and techniques for conflict resolution. While talking with my daughter about a recent school shooting in her area, I learned that my grand’s school has regular “lock-down” drills in preparation for such an attack. Is no place safe from violence?
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” [James 4:13-15 (MSG)]
While some might groan, others may cheer on this the first day of winter. I remember being asked my favorite season and, since we were skiing in the mountains at the time, I said it was winter. I loved it for the powder days on the slopes, pines laden with snow cookies, and aspens glistening with hoarfrost. Winter meant snuggling by the fire with a hot drink while watching the snow fall and the wind blow the trees. Then, I remembered that winter brings shoveling, cleaning off the car, cold toes, drippy noses, falling on the ice, and heating bills so I quickly changed my answer.
Well, it’s that time of year again and I went through my annual (and embarrassing) total body check at the dermatologist’s office. I was closely examined head to toe with a bright light and a magnifying glass and body parts that never see the sun were seen by a complete stranger. That’s what David asked God to do, only God was no stranger and it was his heart that was inspected rather than his skin. Knowing that he was imperfect and hadn’t lived up to God’s standard, David asked God to thoroughly examine him and point out his failings. As awkward as it is to stand naked in front of a stranger, it is far more difficult and humbling to bare our hearts to God and ask Him to point out our deepest faults.
People disappoint. Consider Moses’ disappointment when, fresh off Mt. Sinai after a 40 day meeting with God, he returned to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. Can you imagine David’s disappointment when Saul, the man he’d comforted with his songs, plotted his death? Picture Nathan’s disappointment in David when he confronted him about his adultery with Bathsheba. Think of Joseph’s disappointment in the brothers he thought loved him as they callously sold him into slavery. Consider Jesus’ disappointment in the denying Peter, the betraying Judas, and His sleeping disciples. For that matter, consider the disappointment of the disciples as they saw their hope for the end of Rome’s tyranny die a criminal’s death on the cross.
Devotions of the Heart 