I recently retweeted "being mad that the church is full of hypocrites is like being mad that the hospital is full of sick people." It seems that I am running into that excuse more frequently these days- the "I don't go to church because it is full of hypocrites" excuse. This morning I had that same basic conversation with an added twist. One of my church members regularly takes me out for breakfast at a local greasy spoon. It's ok because just about anyone can do eggs, sausage, grits, pancakes etc. Anyway, I was able to engage of the waitresses there, and the conversation turned to God, church, and religion. It normally does when they come to know that I serve as a pastor.
That being said, it burdens me to see the typical squirming and excuse making that is normally part of these type of conversations. It is never my desire to put someone on the defensive or make them feel like I am "judging" them or anything of that nature; I see these encounters as a chance to encourage another. There are times I am able to pray with or for them or answer a "religious" question. I ultimately want to help them take a step closer to God, but I never intend to condemn or attack or try to put someone on the defensive.
The conversation this morning quickly turned to hypocrisy when the person with whom I was speaking offered that she stopped attending church because her grandparents (who were church goers) were hypocrites. I offered the "we are all messed up" and "there are no perfect people in our church" answer, and that is when it got interesting. She said, "well, the problem with my grandparents is that they would never admit that they were wrong or had problems." I think that is critical and eye-opening for us Christians! In essence, what this young mother of two was saying is that it's ok for Christians to mess up, but it is not ok for them to act as if they never mess up. It's not ok for them to be critical and defensive at the same time.
As I ponder this thought I believe that it is certainly a biblical principle, which I have expressed before. One mark of immaturity in Christ is the idea that you do not have anything to work on or have it all together. My mind goes quickly to Paul's description of his own struggle with sin in Romans 7. I think of David, the man after God's own heart, who cried out "create in me a pure heart, O God." According to the Bible we are being conformed to the image of Christ, being conformed. We are not there yet in any practical sense.
So I say this to all who profess Christ: be diligent to pursue godliness through honest searching of the heart and confession. Not seeing sin in our lives and areas where we fall short is the surest sign of a hypocrisy.
