I’m often accused of being a hypocrite. Nothing could be further from the truth; at least in the context that I understand hypocrisy. According to the dictionary, hypocrisy is the state of falsely claiming to possess positive characteristics, such as religiosity or virtues that one lacks.
As for me I don’t claim to possess positive characteristics such as Jesus possessed. I’m not a “good” person and don’t claim to be. In fact you aren’t either; the Bible states that no one is good other than God. (Mark 10:18 “Jesus answered. No one is good – except God alone.”)
That is not to say that I’m not sincerely convinced of following Jesus and trying my utmost to emulate Him in every way possible; it is to say that I cannot claim victory. The only thing I claim is the old Gospel song, I am weak but He is strong.
It is quite common in our society to publically call out as hypocrites those who express zeal for Godly virtues, but neglect to practice them in their own lives. It doesn’t seem to matter to these accusers that the person whom they are accusing may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering their passions, but in spite of all have yet to find the courage or fortitude to do so in their own lives.
To me that is as much an injustice as labeling as a hypocrite an alcoholic who drinks every day and yet tells anyone who will listen about the evils of that sin. The alcoholic should not be labeled as a hypocrite since the alcoholic makes no pretense of sobriety.
I often see bumper stickers that reflect this mentality; “Christians are not perfect – they’re just forgiven”.
That kind of sums it up for me. I’m not perfect and in fact I’m far from it. I do love the Lord though, and while people can condemn me for many things and rightfully so, not loving the Lord with all my heart is far from being one of them.
One of my favorite old time songs was done by the Animals called the House of the Rising Sun. The lyrics in part are as follows:
Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun
I can tell you many things that I’ve done and in fact still do that should not be done if you wish to have peace, joy, and love in your lives; however I’m not claiming to be anyone other than a lowdown sinner.
So the next time you forward a nasty e-mail joke, get angry with someone, fail to forgive, say or do something to hurt another’s feeling, lust over that pretty little butt swinging through the hallway, get drunk, sleep in or play golf instead of going to church on Sunday, gossip, tell a little white lie or a big black one, fail to help someone who needs it, overeat, withhold God’s tithe, judge someone, cheat on your taxes . . . Think about it.
Do you hate that you just did that? Do you wish you hadn’t made that mistake? Did anyone see you and as a result have another nail driven into their religious coffin?
You should hate that you were weak and committed those sins and as Christians I believe we should walk the talk. I pray about it daily and try hard not to sin, but occasionally I mess up and so will you. It doesn’t make us hypocrites because we love the Lord and know better, but cannot always succeed. One of the people I admire most in life was the Apostle Paul. Listen to how he agonized over this issue and struggled with it . . .
Romans 7:15
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good . . .
September 10, 2013 – Click here to listen