Hypocrisy.
The hallmark of hypocrisy is inconsistency. We talk a good game……..but then we go and do something else.
This is a charge often leveled at Christians by non-Christians. They say that we don’t practice what we preach.
It is also a foil often used by non-Christians to avoid dealing with Christianity. They say that they would be hypocrites to accept Christianity…….and the promise of paradise…….. after having lived the way they have lived. They have a vision of paradise that they just don’t fit into (clouds, harps, halos, etc).
So…….first, let me get one thing out there in the open.
I am a hypocrite.
I say we should love our fellow man……but it is a rare day when I don’t fail to do this at least once.
Will I make it to paradise?…….. probably…….me and whole crowd of people like me. The simple truth is that paradise is going to be crawling with hypocrites…….people who recognize Jesus but have often failed to follow his command to love one another.
Even worse, hell will probably have a lower percentage of hypocrites than paradise. Imagine a sociopathic serial rapist. His philosophy of life is to take whatever he wants and to do whatever he wants with no regard for others. There is not a whiff of hypocrisy there.
And that brings me to a couple of common misconceptions:
Paradise is a place where you will be rewarded for your good behavior. Nope…… paradise is a place where you will be rewarded for recognizing and honoring Jesus’ sacrifice for you……..in spite of your behavior.
Hell is a place where you will be punished for your misbehavior. Nope……..hell is a place where you will be isolated from the love of your creator. This is its worst feature……..but hardly its only bad attribute. Yes…….the coffee will probably be cold. I won’t dwell on the details……but I can promise you this…….you do not want to end up there.
So…….I am a hypocrite. I try to root it out of my life…..but I fail…….every day.
And I’m on way to a very nice place where I will spend forever with a bunch of other hypocrites.
If you are a Christian……..and a hypocrite…….. I’ll see you there. We will sit down someday in a quiet little cafe and wonder at the incredible gift that we have been given……by a creator who loves us in a way that we simply cannot comprehend.
If you are a non-Christian…….if the way you run your life is completely intellectually consistent……..my hope is that someday you too will become a hypocrite.
I’ll save you a seat.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Paul, NIV
I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
John, NIV
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Paul, NIV
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Paul, NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Paul, NIV