Day Thirty-One

Day Thirty-One // April 1 // Hypocrisy

“A hypocrite is one who sets good examples only when he has an audience.” – Anonymous –

We live in an age where people are becoming increasingly cynical about Christianity. Prominent leaders speak and act in ways that seem so unlike Jesus. People question our sincerity. In fact, a recent poll asked people if they agreed with this statement: “Christian churches accept and love people unconditionally, regardless of how people look or what they do.” The results were haunting. These was the percentages of people who agreed with that statement: Pastors 76% Born-Again-Christians 47% Church-Goers 41% Outside-the-Church 20% One young man in the poll went on to make this statement: “Christians like to hear themselves talk. They

are arrogant about their beliefs, but they never bother figuring out what other people actually think. They don’t seem to be very compassionate, especially when they feel strongly about something.”

We are followers of Jesus Christ. When we read the Gospels, we see that when people were down and out, on the bottom of life and shunned by the religious folk, they were drawn to Jesus. He talked to hurting people, broke bread, hung out and laughed with them. All the while, the religious crowd couldn’t stand Jesus’ familiarity with them. Today, how many who desperately need the Gospel are put off because we, who are Christ’s followers, seem more like Pharisees than like Jesus?

If we are going to be faithful to Jesus in this hour, we can have no stomach for hypocrisy. We will understand that people want us to be real, to tell our stories and to share what Christ has done for us. We will not win people to faith by arguing doctrine and quoting esoteric theologians. We will win people who are hurting by sharing genuine love and kindness, and by treating people with respect, the way that Jesus did. Saint Francis of Assissi gives us our marching orders: “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching... As for me, I desire this privilege from the Lord, that never may I have any privilege from man, except to do reverence to all, and to convert the world by obedience to the Holy Rule rather by example than by word.”