Hypocrisy

Have you ever had a conversation with an unsaved friend and wonder where they come up with some of their thinking? For instance, have you ever had a conversation with an unsaved friend who thinks they have to "get it together" before coming to the Lord? That they needed to clean themselves up before coming to God? Did you ask yourself where on earth did they get a stupid idea like that? Then did you hear a still small voice call out your name?

Often times, we have a zeal to demonstrate that "Jesus is the answer." But sometimes I think we go too far by pretending that we have all the answers too. Do you feel like being a good witness means never letting on that you still have plenty of problems in your own life? That, my friend, is being a hypocrite.

Our world is fed up with Christians trying to sell quick, easy solutions to complex problems. What the world needs to see is something very REAL in our lives! If we are ever going to break free from the snare of hypocrisy we have to admit we don't have all the answers. I know I don't have the perfect marriage, nor do I have a perfect child (that's right Pilot---you are not perfect!), nor do I attend the perfect church. I'm a sinner just like everyone else. There isn't a person alive on this planet who is not a sinner. My life will have a far greater impact when I'm willing to admit to the world around me that I blow it every day of my life. The difference is I'm not who I used to be, and I'm not who I would have been.

As I've pondered God's faithfulness over the past several weeks as I have been reading Isaiah, it is my prayer that God will deliver me, and you, from all remnants of hypocrisy. I do not need to feel the need to pretend to be someone I'm not. Neither do you. Be open to growing in your understanding of how great God is and all He has done. As you grow you will be increasingly aware that there is nothing we can add to God. He doesn't need you and I to enhance His reputation with outward displays of religiosity. God doesn't need us to turn in a shining performance for Him. Indeed, I believe God's faithfulness shines forth most brightly through our imperfections rather than our perfection. You see, it's then that people realize that Christians really aren't perfect, just forgiven. If God has accepted us just as we are then they can believe that He will accept them just as they are. It isn't a bumper sticker, friends, it's the truth. Let's live like we believe it!