Re: Hypocrisy
Submitted by Genghis on April 15 2002 15:17:31
In reply to Hypocrisy submitted by Billy Budd on April 15 2002 10:31:17
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I think we are all hypocrites in some way, just as we are all sinners. No matter how deep our lives are into God, all of us still sin in some way, whether it be cutting someone off on the highway, or being impatient with our friends. The only person who lived who was totally without sin was Jesus, but until we get to heaven, we can never be as sin-free as he was. The same goes to hypocrisy, no matter how hard we try not to be, inevitably we still act that way, sometimes without even realizing it. For example, talking behind someone's back maliciously is not Christian at all, but I myself have done it before, so I'm a hypocrite. People in church whom we perceive as hypocrites might know it already and are working to cleanse themselves - but we need to give them time. And by the way, isn't saying someone's a hypocrite a bad thing in itself already? The Bible tells us not to judge, and by saying, "that John in church always does ___ and ___, so he's a hypocrite", we are already judging someone. Even if you don't tell anyone, whenever you pass "John" in the hallway you'd be thinking in your heart, "I don't like him, what a hypocrite", and that's not leading a life very pleasing to God. I admit that I do this very often, and it's one of my biggest problems. Bad habits are hard to break, but I'm working hard on this one. :-) Okay, so let's say the church you go to is full of hypocrites talking behind each other's backs. You could lead by example! (like Jesus did) After a while, people will notice you don't talk behind other's backs. I've noticed that the people in church whom I like the most are those who're just *nice*, those who live Christian lives like the great stuff talked about in James. Almost everyone, hypocrite or non-hypocrite, likes them. And instead of staying away from church because of the hypocrites, we should try and help them change; after all, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. And in return, they can help us overcome our own shortcomings. We shouldn't think of ourselves as more "virtuous" than another since we all "fell short of the glory of God." Fellowhip is a great and fun part of being a Christian. If we don't mingle with other Christians we can't do that. There are many churches out there, some better than others, but we shouldn't "not go to church" just because we think it's full of hypocrites. If there are multiple churches in town, we should try a different one each week. If there's just one or two, we should still go, unless the situation there is very, very bad. Because in a greater sense, we don't go to church to associate with people. We go there to associate with God, to hear His word as relayed by the pastor. People are hypocrites, but God isn't one. with love, Genghis ps. this may be the longest post I've ever done in CBF. whew! |
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