In several years of Bible study I’ve noticed that the only people Jesus Christ ever got angry with were those he labeled “hypocrites”.These were invariably people who were “religious” leaders, but were not living out the life they pressured others into living. He didn’t similarly lambast his disciples, so at least he didn’t think all Christians were hypocrites, but there are plenty of fine citizens around today who do.

I’m a bit of a hypocrite sometimes.  I’m honest enough to own up to it, and I’m trying to change my ways. Being a Christian doesn’t enable me to leap human nature in a single bound. However, when I hear people say that “all Christians are hypocrites”, I want to ask them how many of the two and a quarter billion professing Christians on earth they know personally.  At very most they know perhaps ten or twenty, or more likely they know one or two… or none.  Making a sweeping generalization like that is like hearing of a murderous doctor and then declaring that all doctors all over the world are murderers.

How many people who make this accusation will drive along the highway over the speed limit, and then slow down when they see a police car? That’s hypocrisy! In order to be  honest, that man or woman should continue to drive at fifteen over the limit, and then tell the officer that they were driving over the limit because they don’t want to be hypocritical.

Hypocrisy is saying one thing but doing another, or pretending to be something we’re not, and it’s akin to lying. Anyone who says they never lie… is lying. The fact is that we’re all hypocrites at times, and some more than others.  Yes , I’ve encountered hypocrisy in the churches I’ve attended, but I’ve also encountered some wonderful people who would do anything for anyone, and who sacrificed themselves to help me and my family. Do we not apply the “h” word to politicians, whether they’re Christians or not?  Hypocrisy, then, is a human trait. It’s a sin- not a fatal flaw in the Christian faith.

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