Been re-listening to Tim Keller and Philip Jensen on Church Planting and have been reminded again of the need for us to break the mould.
There are so many stereotyped views of Christians; boring, hypocritical, judgemental, preachy and so on.... The big question is what am I doing to disprove them? How am I disabusing people of those notions?
How do we as churches show people that such views are wrong? In fact they are one of Satan's greatest ploys as they stop people ever considering the lifesaving, eternally significant message that the church has been entrusted with for the world!!!! If the gospel matters I, we must be demolishing such wrongheaded stereotypes both personally and corporately. Are we doing that? How do we go about doing so?
Showing posts with label hypocrites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hypocrites. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Christians are hypocrites and doesn't that prove Christianity is false?
Christians are hypocrites! How many times have you heard that said? It is one of the common arguments raised as to why Christianity is false, why just look at the way some Christians are!
I think we have to hold our hands up and say yep there are Christian's who are hypocrites. But I also think we want to ask what is a Christian? A Christian is a sinner saved by grace. That is what we are working with the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus. Christians are not perfect, but we are following Jesus.
Many people see Christians as being self-righteous, they see us in just the same light that those in Judea in Jesus day saw the Pharisees. We are not called to be self-righteous, in fact Jesus warns against it - "To those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax collector...I tell you this man [the tax collector], rather than the other went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14).
It may be that we need to repent of attitudes like that of the Pharisee, because I am only ever a sinner saved by grace given the undeserved status of a son.
When people see Christians following Jesus, humbling serving others and seeking to share the great news of salvation through Jesus Christ with people then it disarms the objection.
I think we have to hold our hands up and say yep there are Christian's who are hypocrites. But I also think we want to ask what is a Christian? A Christian is a sinner saved by grace. That is what we are working with the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus. Christians are not perfect, but we are following Jesus.
Many people see Christians as being self-righteous, they see us in just the same light that those in Judea in Jesus day saw the Pharisees. We are not called to be self-righteous, in fact Jesus warns against it - "To those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax collector...I tell you this man [the tax collector], rather than the other went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14).
It may be that we need to repent of attitudes like that of the Pharisee, because I am only ever a sinner saved by grace given the undeserved status of a son.
When people see Christians following Jesus, humbling serving others and seeking to share the great news of salvation through Jesus Christ with people then it disarms the objection.
Monday, 16 April 2007
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.
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.
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