Guilty as charged?

One of the most popular reasons why people reject Christianity is the charge that Christians are hypocrites. How do we respond when we receive that response?

The primary response must be long before that charge is ever made and last long after it has faded to a distant memory. It is for people to be able to look at our lives and come to the conclusion that we are not hypocrites. That we actually live out what we say.

Though this doesn't mean never letting them see the things that we struggle with. I think it is the Teflon Christian with whom people struggle most. People need to see our concern, our love, our compassion for others. But they need to see that we do more than talk about love or fellowship or community. They need to see that these are ideas that we hold deeply to, so deeply that we put them into action. We don't just talk about love but we show it.

The Apostle Paul invited people to do just that, to look at the way he and his friends lived and see if it proved the gospel true. Here is what he writes to the Thessalonians:
"Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely, you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witness, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you..."

Paul was able to say you are witnesses of how we lived, and our living gave credibility to the gospel. The Thessalonians couldn't charge him with hypocrisy, their lives that had been shared with them disabled such an accusation.

When someone says that all Christians are hypocrites the answer if we dare to give it is 'OK lets put it to the test'. Introduce them to Christian friends, to the church and encourage them to watch the way you live, the way we are at work, when we drive, with family, with money, with priorities, with loving others, and we'll talk again in a couple of months.

But from the other side, the way I am at work, at the school gates, or on the squash court, or in the gym needs to challenge that objection for those around me. Our calling is to live lives that glorify God in every situation and as we do so to be provoking questions and challenging misconceptions.