If you paid a stranger to watch the way you live for a week, what would they say was the focus of your life? Would they see Jesus? Would they understand what it meant to be a Christian from watching what you did and listening to what you said? We Christians can talk a pretty good game, especially when we’re cloistered safe inside our places of worship or surrounded by like-minded believers.
The manner in which we exercise our faith is less convincing. There’s an old word for that: hypocrisy. Nobody I know ever wants to be called a hypocrite, but if your actions don’t align with your words, what else would someone call you? To behave like this is the same as looking at yourself in a mirror and then forgetting what you look like the moment you turn away. (James 1:23-24)
Hypocrisy can afflict any Christian at any time. It’s not something you defeat once and never have to worry about again. Rather, it is a lifelong threat against which we must always be on guard. (1 Corinthians 10:12; 1 Peter 5:8) As you examine your walk with Christ, would you say you model consistency or excuses? We love to rationalize away our faults and failures. The horrifying truth is that we compromise because we want to. (James 1:14-15) It’s not a moment of weakness, and we’re not victims of circumstance. We are hypocrites who choose the world over Jesus in that moment. Haven’t we wasted enough of our lives pretending otherwise?
Is your life a model of discipline or distraction? Not once did the beauty and temptations of this world distract Jesus. He knew His mission, and He set His face like flint to move towards the cross. (Luke 9:51; Hebrews 12:1-2) Nothing could move or shift Jesus from His course. In revolting contrast, our focus is in a constant state of brokenness and disarray. We look at all the temporary pleasures of this world and convince ourselves they are worth more than the eternal perfection of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:18; Philippians 3:8) Fickleness is a close companion of hypocrisy, and we are guilty of both.
Would the stranger observing your life see you manifesting courage or avoidance? Do you do the unpopular things when they bring glory to God, or do you give in to the voice of the crowd to preserve your popularity and standing? Every time we choose ourselves or the opinions of man over the holiness of God, we are hypocrites. (Galatians 1:10; Proverbs 29:25) We say we love God, but the truth is we love the world and the things in it. As long as that is true of us, we do not love God. (1 John 2:15)
Hypocrisy stagnates growth, whereas faithfulness strengthens you and causes you to flourish in your walk with the Lord. (John 15:5; 2 Peter 1:5-8) Jesus had sharp words for the hypocrites of His day (Matthew 23:27-28). Do you think He’d be any more tolerant of the hypocrisy in our lives? We are sick, fickle, unfocused, and uncommitted. We are hypocrites. But we don’t have to be this way. We can ask Him to forgive us and to change us today. (1 John 1:9) He will give us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and raise us up to be men and women who seek after Him. (Colossians 3:1-2) We can choose to love Him above all the garbage in this world. (Matthew 22:37; Philippians 1:21)
Your priorities aren’t what you tell people they are; they are what you do. It doesn’t matter what you say you feel, only what you show to be true by your words and actions. Your eternity will not be based on what you want but on whom you pursue to please in this life. If you love Jesus, you will repent and surrender your life to Him. (Luke 9:23; Acts 3:19) In return, He will know you and keep you. (John 10:27-28) But you must decide if He is worth it. (Joshua 24:15) You know He is, so why don’t you live what you know to be true?