God Loves Hypocrites
April 8, 2008
Romans 3:23 "..for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.."
Many times non-Christians express their frustrations regarding those who attend church. They respond with a true statement that everyone in church is a hypocrite. Politely, I agree, but then suggest not everyone in church is Jesus. True, the goal of being a Christian is becoming Christ-like, but it is impossible for anyone to be totally like Jesus, as our sinful flesh will always get in the way of physical perfection. Sure, we Christians try to be perfect, but fall very, very short of that.
This seems like a rational argument for why Christians are not perfect, especially from an outside perspective, but it does not explain why the people inside the church cannot see it the same way. As Christians, we feel that if we are in church for any length of time then we should know how to walk, talk, and act like a Christian 24/7. So, when we get to church, we play the well-rehearsed role of being a Christian. When in church, we never yell, swear, argue, hold grudges, envy, or act inappropriately toward our spouse and children. To everyone in the church, we look just like they do. We tell each other that we are fine and that our lives are on track with the Lord, after all, just look at how we are acting right there in church; model evidence.
Then behind closed doors, in the semi-privacy of our homes, the truth comes out. We engage in many of the same sins as all the non-Christians, not necessarily on purpose, but sin happens. We must hide these sins from all our fellow church members, though. They must never be aware, lest they judge. They must think that we are always becoming more Christ-like with very few, if any, shortcomings or failures. This is where the hypocrisy comes in to play, when we put on a front for the fellow Christians in our church. Heaven forbid they become aware of our humanity and find out we're real people.
The truth of the matter is, we are all very human and fail to be perfect and Christ-like everyday. Even the best of Christians struggles with loving his neighbor or dealing in kindness to his spouse. Even the pastor sometimes struggles with keeping his thought life pure. Even the deacons face apathy toward God and allow worry and doubt to creep inside. And almost everyone gets angry in their hearts while driving on the highway. The point is, non-Christians are aware that we are not perfect, but for some reason, Christians are not aware of this same fact. And if we are aware of our imperfection, we sure aren't going to admit it to any other Christian. After all, they might think we are a hypocrite.
Everyone else probably knows you're not perfect. Stop pretending; God knows who you are and loves you anyway. There is no judgment in the true house of God.
1. Have you been playing the role of the model Christian?
2. Isn't it time you allowed yourself to be vulnerable again?
Many times non-Christians express their frustrations regarding those who attend church. They respond with a true statement that everyone in church is a hypocrite. Politely, I agree, but then suggest not everyone in church is Jesus. True, the goal of being a Christian is becoming Christ-like, but it is impossible for anyone to be totally like Jesus, as our sinful flesh will always get in the way of physical perfection. Sure, we Christians try to be perfect, but fall very, very short of that.
This seems like a rational argument for why Christians are not perfect, especially from an outside perspective, but it does not explain why the people inside the church cannot see it the same way. As Christians, we feel that if we are in church for any length of time then we should know how to walk, talk, and act like a Christian 24/7. So, when we get to church, we play the well-rehearsed role of being a Christian. When in church, we never yell, swear, argue, hold grudges, envy, or act inappropriately toward our spouse and children. To everyone in the church, we look just like they do. We tell each other that we are fine and that our lives are on track with the Lord, after all, just look at how we are acting right there in church; model evidence.
Then behind closed doors, in the semi-privacy of our homes, the truth comes out. We engage in many of the same sins as all the non-Christians, not necessarily on purpose, but sin happens. We must hide these sins from all our fellow church members, though. They must never be aware, lest they judge. They must think that we are always becoming more Christ-like with very few, if any, shortcomings or failures. This is where the hypocrisy comes in to play, when we put on a front for the fellow Christians in our church. Heaven forbid they become aware of our humanity and find out we're real people.
The truth of the matter is, we are all very human and fail to be perfect and Christ-like everyday. Even the best of Christians struggles with loving his neighbor or dealing in kindness to his spouse. Even the pastor sometimes struggles with keeping his thought life pure. Even the deacons face apathy toward God and allow worry and doubt to creep inside. And almost everyone gets angry in their hearts while driving on the highway. The point is, non-Christians are aware that we are not perfect, but for some reason, Christians are not aware of this same fact. And if we are aware of our imperfection, we sure aren't going to admit it to any other Christian. After all, they might think we are a hypocrite.
Everyone else probably knows you're not perfect. Stop pretending; God knows who you are and loves you anyway. There is no judgment in the true house of God.
1. Have you been playing the role of the model Christian?
2. Isn't it time you allowed yourself to be vulnerable again?
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