Hypocrites

From what I gather, the biggest reason some people don’t go to church, don't become active in organized religion, and/or don’t believe in God is because of their view that all Christians are hypocrites.  I don’t know why people are so shocked that Christians are hypocrites or why Christians are shocked when they are called a hypocrite.  The truth is we are all hypocrites!  At some point in our life we say one thing and do another.   The definition of a hypocrite is "a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs."

Paul went on to say in Romans 7:5" I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  Paul struggled with this as well as everyone who has ever walked on this Earth.  Jesus was nailed to the cross because some people did not believe He was who he said he was because they didn’t believe that he would do work on the Sabbath if he was truly the Son of God. He was accused of being a hypocrite for saying who He was, but did not abide by the man made rules they believed governed what was right and holy. So everyone who has ever walked this Earth has been accused of being a hypocrite.  Jesus is the only one that wasn't a hypocrite but suffered as if he was.  

As a Christian, I beat myself up mostly about my hypocrite ways.  I can be so close to God that I hear Him so clearly and He gives me great insight into my life and I know exactly what I need to do and it is laid out in front of me and chances are that within 24 hrs of hearing from God, I will at some point in the day have done exactly what I wasn’t going to do and will have gone against the very thing I knew was the right thing for me to do. I totally get Paul.  I totally understand his confusion.  I don’t know how I can be so close to God in one moment and be so stupid the next to go against what I know is right.  The disciples went through the same thing.  Several times they proclaimed they knew Jesus was the Son of Man.  They saw His miracles and saw Him walk on water.  There was no denying it yet they continued to deny him.  They still had moments of disbelief and even Simon Peter who had said for certain that He would never deny Jesus, ended up doing the very thing he swore he wouldn’t do and then stood in disbelief of what he had done.

So yes churches are full of hypocrites, just like your job, school, circle of friends,  and your family are full of them too.  The Bible that churches use as their resource for teaching is full of illustrations of hypocrites so what do you expect.  A Christian life isn’t a perfect one but it is a forgiven one.  My imperfections, my hypocrite ways, my mistakes are all forgiven when I repent to God.

 So yes there are plenty of times you may read something from my blog and then encounter me in the real world and can’t believe how different what I write and how I behave can be.  I’m aware of it.  I do have hope because my heart does know what is right and it does know what needs to change.  It’s a struggle Paul knew all to well and one that I don’t understand either.  But each day I ask for forgiveness and try to do better the next . It’s all I can do.  As the late Maya Angelou put it, she could never believe someone would come to her and say “I am a Christian.”  Her response was always, “Really so soon.” Because to her it was a life long process to become a Christian and one that may not end until one is in heaven. I understand that view point more and more each day as I try to follow Christ through this life. I am not perfect.  I choose to aspire to live my life for Jesus but I will stumble and I will fall and yes it does make me a hypocrite.  I'll proudly take the claim of being a hypocrite because it means I do know God's Word and I do know what is right.  No one but Jesus could possibly live the Bible out and never make a mistake.  So while I go through this life following Christ, maybe Maya Angelou is right and I don't deserve the title of a Christian as it is a life-long endeavor but I certaintly do deserve the title of a Hypocrite.  I would rather know God's truth and fail daily living out the truth than to never know God and make up my own truths as I go through this life.