Things I Need to Own – Hypocrisy

Greetings Dear Reader,

One of the things that people seem to find the most offensive is hypocrisy.  I must own that over the centuries and currently those who follow Christ have done things that are in direct opposition to what Christ commands.  The formula is a simple one.  I must not do things that I tell others not to do.  I must do the things I say that Christ followers should do.

In failing at this we erode the image that we wish others to have of Christ.  I cannot claim to follow Christ and not live the love, kindness, generosity, and faith that he demands.  The big picture is simple.  I cannot condemn others for sin when I sin.  I cannot judge anyone else as long as I am in need of judgment.

This does not mean that I do not say that things are sin when they are.  It means that I do not treat the person guilty of that sin badly in any way.  It means that I separate the sin from the needs of the individual.  It means that I do not throw a drowning man a book on swimming.  It means that I realize we all have the same affliction and that I am in recovery. 

Christ addresses this so clearly.  He makes it clear that I need to base my actions on the degree to which I have been forgiven and not the sins of others.  The comparison I am allowed to make is my sin and God’s holiness.  I will always come up short in this comparison but that is the standard. 

The only way I can own the things I must own as a Christ follower is to acknowledge that I am in too great a need of grace and forgiveness to condemn anyone else.  This is to be a mirror for me.  I know that there are those who will read it and not see their own need to do the same.  That, however, is between the reader and God.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."