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Afraid of Christianity > Christians Are Hypocrites
Christians are hypocrites
People who call themselves
"Christians" do not behave, talk or treat other people
the way the Bible teaches we should.
Churches are
full on Easter and Christmas and half empty the rest of the year.
Those are hypocrites!
Men (and women)
are in church on sunday, and cheating on their spouse on monday.
There are hungry
people, and we do not feed them. Babies are dying and we do not
save them. Couples are living together, but are not married. We
steal office supples from work. We don't forgive others.
WHY?
Because we are all sinners
- Christians and non-Christians - we are all sinners.
"So
why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me?"
(NLT) - Luke 6:46
False
Christians: Yes, there are people who
call themselves "Christian", but they make no effort to
live a Christian lifestyle--or even to learn what a Christian lifestyle
is. They call Jesus "Lord", but they do not obey him --
they don't follow what is taught in the Bible.
James,
the brother of Jesus tells us:
"I
can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show
you my faith through my good deeds."
(NLT) - James 2:18
What James is
saying is that when you truly believe in Christ, your life changes.
It changes because we want to change and because the Holy Spirit
helps us to change. And that change results in your behavior changing
in such a way that other people can see your faith.
Christians
are not perfect: Another reason why true Christians (and those
belonging to any other religion) appear to be hypocrites is that
we are not perfect. We make mistakes. We can improve as we learn
from the Bible. We can improve as we grow spiritually. But no matter
how much we learn and grow, we are still sinners. Even the greatest
Christians make mistakes. The Apostle Paul, who wrote a large part
of the News Testament, struggled with this. He wrote:
"I
don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is
right, but I don't do it. Instead I do the very thing I hate. I
know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience
shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can't help myself,
because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things."
(NLT) - Romans 7:15-17
So what do we do? If
even the Apostle Paul could not win his struggle with sin, what
hope do we have? We are helpless against the power of sin!
Here is what
Paul writes:
"For
all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet
now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has
done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away
our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins
and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God
when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life
for us."
(NLT) - Romans 3:23-25
When it comes
to hypocrites, don't blame Christianity, blame people.
"So
get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don't pretend to be
good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing."
(NLT) - 1 Peter 2:1
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