Hypocrites: Part 1 of 2

If you have ever tried to talk to someone about becoming a follower of Jesus, you've no doubt heard the line about Christians being hypocrites.

One of the biggest arguments against Christianity is that people who call themselves Christ-followers are very hypocritical. In other words, the argument is that Christians say they believe the Bible and Jesus, but don't live a lifestyle that follows those teachings.

For the next couple of days, I'm going to tackle this topic. Today, I want to speak to the Christian that encounters this line in their discussions. The natural tendency is to defend and protect. In other words, we like to point out that not every person who says they believe in Jesus is a devil in sheeps clothing.

But, I think that is the wrong approach. You see, the truth is that we actually ARE wicked by our very nature. The truth is that each one of us who calls ourselves Christian is hypocritical. The Bible says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God's standard. God's standard is Jesus. When you look at perfection, it is Jesus. Not a single person on this globe (or off it) can match God's glorious standard.

Isaiah 64:6 says that we miss God's standard so badly that even our good works, the things that we conclude are righteous are filthy rags when compared to God's standard. Translation: Our best behavior, which by far surpasses our bad behavior, is still not good enough to close the gap that sin creates between God and ourselves.

Fortunately, God sent Jesus, and as Romans 3:21-22 point out, Jesus closes that gap. God made the way for man to be reconciled to Him, and that way is Jesus.