Hope for Hypocrites

I sure hope hypocrites can change.

Everyone knows what a hypocrite is. They are two-faced. They say one thing in public, but do the opposite in private. Or they say one thing to one group of people, and the opposite to others, just so they can be accepted by both. Jesus had numerous encounters with religious hypocrites in His day, and there is no shortage of hypocrites today either.

There is one hypocrite in particular who annoys me more than all others. I first encountered him on my blog about five years ago, and every so often, more recently of late, he comes back and spouts off some sort of pious nonsense, which sounds good on the electronic page, but which I know for a fact is nothing but pure hypocrisy.

So I sure hope hypocrites like this can change.

I want him to keep interacting on my blog, but if he keeps it up, I might have to ban him.

He writes about all the problems in church and all the changes that need to be done to fix the church, but I know that he never really seems to make any changes in his own life. And he himself is not really all that involved in church anyway. He is like a “back pew driver.” I want to quote to him that old line we learned in kindergarten: “When you point your finger at someone else, three point back at you,” but it sounds so juvenile.

I am tired of all his talk about loving and serving others, when really, from what I know about him, he rarely loves or serves anyone except himself. His wife and kids do more service than he does, and then he writes about it as if he were doing it! Talk about hypocrisy! Sometimes I just want to ask him, “Who do you serve? Who do you love?” Certainly, he has some decent ideas, but if all he is doing is talking about them, it is pure hypocrisy.

So I sure hope hypocrites like this can change.

He has his own blog, of course (who doesn’t these days?), and sometimes I read it. I recently read a post where he criticized big mega churches for their lack of close relationships and true, genuine fellowship. I suppose I agree. It is difficult to develop close relationships in big churches. But then, close relationships are difficult to develop everywhere! And besides, I know some about this guy. He doesn’t have a single close friend! Nobody he regularly fellowships with. It looks like he is not doing any better with relationships and fellowship than are the people in the mega churches he criticized.

I have almost stopped reading his blog completely. I get too upset. I wonder how he can write such things without shame? Where is his integrity? Where is his honesty about himself and his own life? Everything he writes on the page sounds good in theory, and seems to reflect biblical principles and ideas, and he seems to love Jesus and want to show the love of Jesus to others. That’s all good. But there is a wide gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it. And that gap is called hypocrisy. If all he ever does is writes about loving and serving others, but never actually does it, he is a hypocrite.

So I sure hope hypocrites like this can change.

I really hope hypocrites can change…

Otherwise, there is no hope for me.

For I am that hypocrite.

Here is a list of other Synchroblog participants. Go read them all!

The Trouble With Hope: John Ptacek

Hope = Possibility x Imagination: Wayne Rumsby

Where Is My Hope: Jonathan Brink

Now These Three Remain: Sonny Lemmons

Perplexed, But Still Hopeful: Carol Kuniholm

A Hope that Lives: Amy Mitchell

Generations Come and Generations Go: Adam Gonnerman

Demystifying Hope: Glenn Hager

God in the Dark: On Hope: Renee Ronika Klug

Keeping Hope Alive: Maurice Broaddus

Are We Afraid to Hope?: Christine Sine

On Wobbly Wheels, Split Churches and Fear: Laura Droege

Adopting Hope: Travis Klassen

Hope is Held Between Us: Ellen Haroutunian

Hope: In the Hands of the Creatively Maladjusted: Mihee Kim-Kort

Paradox, Hope and Revival: City Safari

Good Theology Saves: Reverend Robyn

Linear: Never Was, Never Will Be: Kathy Escobar

Better Than Hope: Liz Dyer

Caroline for Congress: Hope for the Future: Wendy McCaig

Fumbling the Ball on Hope: KW Leslie

Content to Hope: Alise Wright

Hope: Oh, the Humanity!: Deanna Ogle

Comments