A person once said that all the Christians that they had met were hypocrites. Of course, I was at first tempted to answer with either a snappy comeback or with a philosophical comeback or by re-defining the term. I finally concluded that I had no way to disprove the statement.
You see, all of us are sinners. As a result, all of us behave in ways that are inconsistent with the very Christianity that we profess. And, the people that observe us can see every one of those inconsistencies. They can see our sins better than we can. They can see the ways in which we self-justify our sins. They can see that we are, by one definition of the term, hypocrites. If they are fair-minded they can understand what it means to be a sinner on the path of redemption. But, if they have been hurt by one of us, or if one of us behaves badly, it becomes very difficult to see the discrepancies as anything other than hypocrisy, pure and unadulterated.
So, what is the difference between a hypocrite and a not-hypocrite? After all, Jesus himself differentiates between those who were hypocrites and those who were not. I think that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee gives us a strong pointer. The hypocrite is the one who actually thinks that his/her Christianity is in a fairly good state. The not-hypocrite is the one who cannot go before the Lord without first acknowledging sins and asking for God’s mercy. The not-hypocrite is not sinless, but is humble and willing to acknowledge sins, particularly when they are pointed out.
There is a reason for the Lord’s Prayer, there is a reason for us all, too frequently pray Lord, have mercy. Sadly, some Christians can even become proud of the fact that they pray that prayer. Too many of us have turned a cry for mercy, for forgiveness from our hypocrisy, into a proud statement that we know we are sinners and is that not great! No, it is not great. We are all just sinners desperately in need of God’s mercy.
One caveat, no I am not talking about justification. I know our sins have been forgiven. I am talking about sanctification. I am talking about where the shoe meets the road. You see, I believe that most people can understand that we are far from perfection provided they see us walking a path of humility in the direction of our God, asking for his mercy and guidance. But, if we are not walking that path of humility, then they will see us as something they do not wish to be.
