Galatians 2
“Christians are all hypocrites!” So goes the charge, and such is the excuse
that many give for not going to church. It
is tempting to curse this moral failing that we Christians have. “If only we weren’t hypocritical! If only we’d show more integrity! If only we’d always make right choices, say
the right things in the right way, and perform the right actions in the right
situations!” I suppose then if we did we
would be … well “right” – for whatever that’s worth. But I suspect that even if somehow we overcame
our hypocrisy there would be a different reason for the world to not participate
in the things of God.
Yet, here is the rub: Christians are
hypocrites. Christians are hypocrites
because people are hypocrites. If you
scratch any person deep enough you will find hypocrisy in their life. And since Christians are people, hypocrisy
will be found in their lives too. Even
the saints of old were caught up in hypocrisy.
In Galatians 2 we read that Peter was caught in hypocrisy in regard to
his kosher lifestyle when Jews were around and un-kosher living when they were not. Even Barnabas was caught up in this same hypocrisy. It does not make sense to think that we’d be
different or somehow better than they were.
So, why do Christians get special
treatment on this front? Why is our
hypocrisy worse than anyone else’s? What
happened that Christian hypocrisy became more open or offensive than the
non-Christians’?
Truth be told, some of this is
self-inflicted. We must recognize and
repent of the times that the Church has looked down on others, supported
discrimination and slavery, and done the same things the world does in regard
to power and domination. On the other hand,
the reality is that God’s Word also convicts people, and the world has always
rejected God’s Word and those who bear it.
So, what should we do? Acknowledge our hypocrisy. Confess it.
Own it. And then remember, “we
know that a person is not justified by works of the law but
through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in
order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because
by works of the law no one will be justified.”
And that is the hope we hold for a hypocritical world, too.
Lord, I am a hypocrite. Please forgive me, and help me show other
hypocrites how Jesus has saved us all without our works. Amen.
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