“Do what I say, not what I do.” The motto of a hypocrite, perhaps?
“I don’t go to church because there are so many hypocrites there.” You’ve heard it said. Maybe you’ve even said it. Maybe you still feel that way today. It has been said that “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable” (Brennan Manning).
The thing that bothers those neighbors of mine and the reason your coworkers make these types of comments… is that they see people who they know go to church every Sunday use the roughest, foulest language throughout the week; who leer at the opposite sex and make inappropriate comments about them later; who treat their spouse and kids poorly; who badmouth the boss behind his back; and who find sneaky ways to get around the rules and laws – of the workplace, of the school district, of the tax payments. They look at the attitudes, habits, & lifestyle of many Christians and think – “they don’t seem to be anything like the Jesus I’ve heard about.”
Cause most all of the folks around you know a little bit about Jesus, even if they aren’t a follower of Him.
At the very least, they know that He was about love. And they know that anyone who claims to follow Him should also be about love. They know that those who say they believe in God should live a consistent life that is faithful to the lifestyle that Jesus lived.
But too often, they see something different.
Does your life match up with your words? Let’s keep striving toward consistency – being people of the highest integrity and character.