There! It was finally said

Yesterday in church, our executive pastor spoke. I love when he has the opportunity to speak because he is very good at making himself and the congregation vulnerable. Meaning he is willing to show us some of his issues as well as some of ours. Well yesterday in passing he mentioned that those who do not go to church look at us as irrelevant, irreverent, and hypocritical. Okay, I think all Christians have heard this before, especially that last term, right? After a pause, he went on to basically say they’re right. Here’s the thing. For as long as I have known, people have said they won’t go to church because it’s full of a bunch of hypocrites. And for years, I or someone else has either provided a defenseless shrug at that statement or have gotten defensive that this was even suggested!

Hypocrisy (n.) – the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.

But Christians, isn’t this true? Don’t we proclaim the Christian faith and live to reflect Christ and obey our God? Absolutely! So, with that in mind, who among our faith can claim that our thoughts and behavior wholly conform to what it is we proclaim to live by? I think we have stumbled upon our own hypocrisy. When my pastor, Mark, said this yesterday, it was good to hear. I am now asking myself how I should respond when those who don’t go to church say they don’t go because of me. I suppose I shouldn’t just shyly smile and hope they come around anyhow. I definitely shouldn’t get defensive; that hints at arrogance or at least denial. Perhaps I should let them know they are right in that assessment. I should tell them I go to church because I don’t have it figured out yet and neither do the other folks in attendance. That we are trying, and sometimes struggling, to follow the faith we proclaim. But by going I learn more about the God I serve and find great encouragement from the others there knowing that we’re growing together and that with God’s help becoming less and less of a hypocrite as we continue.