“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
– Mohandas Gandhi

Lately I’ve reading Reason for God by Tim Keller. I know I’ve said this concerning a bunch of books, but this time I mean it: This is the best book I have ever read. I do have disagreements with a few areas, but overall I am just flabbergasted by its content. Flabbergasted in a good way, if that is possible. Chapter 4: The Church is Responsible for So Much Injustice, especially, got me thinking about a lot of stuff, notably Christian hypocrisy, and it reminded me that I’ve always wanted to rant about Christian hypocrisy. Recent conversations and readings have finally pushed me to the limit. I have decided to rant about Christian hypocrisy. The following is a collection of thoughts that have been put together over the last few months.

One of the major setbacks for non-Christians is the notion that Christians are hypocritical. Brennan Manning said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” And it makes sense, to some degree. If a dude says his wife is the best person in the world, but every other night he goes out and hits on random girls, then the dude probably doesn’t think his wife is the best person in the world. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. Similarly, if a dude says God is most worthy of praise but lives a lifestyle not reflective of such a claim, then the dude probably doesn’t think God is most worthy of praise. And it doesn’t take a genius to be turned off.

But.

Imagine a brilliant professor. He wins the Nobel Peace Prize in every category, or something amazing like that. Now imagine that several top-notch companies go out and hire all of his students right after they graduate, on the sole basis that they went through his class. That’s how brilliant this professor was. Let’s now imagine that Student A, after going through this brilliant professor, was hired by Company B. Student A turns out to be an idiot, and he does not meet expectations. Should Company B then assume that the professor is not brilliant after all? No, Company B should not assume anything more than that Student A is an idiot.

When a Christian does not walk his talk, it does not in any way take away from the truth of the Gospel. One should not assume that Christianity is therefore harmful or useless on the basis of an individual, or even on the basis of a group of individuals. It is the same as watching a baseball game played by people who can’t even hold their gloves right or swing right, then concluding that baseball is a stupid sport. It is the same as witnessing a kid almost drown in a swimming pool, then concluding that people should never swim in swimming pools. Basically, it is the judging of a whole based on the account of representatives of the whole. It is assuming that those accounts are fair representatives of the whole.

Even so, my imaginary opponent argues, that does not excuse Christians of their hypocrisy. And I will say this to you, true Christians are not hypocritical. Oh foolish Larry, how can you make such a bold sweeping statement? This is what I mean.

Let us define hypocrisy as not walking the talk. For hypocrisy to exist, two things must happen.
1. One must preach something.
2. One must not live that something.
For example, one can say “wear a red shirt” (preaching) but in fact wear a green shirt (not living). That is hypocritical. Both of these conditions have to be true in order for hypocrisy to be valid.

The very argument that Christians are hypocritical comes with two assumptions.
1. Christians preach morality.
2. Christians don’t live morality.
Both of these assumptions have to be true in order that this argument be valid. Let’s look at Assumption #1. Basically, it assumes that Christians should be more moral than non-Christians. And I say, with all the energy I can apply into my fingertips, NO! Christianity is not a works-based religion. It is a grace-based religion. Meaning, real Christians, who understand what Christianity is all about, do not claim to be more moral than non-Christians. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says that it is “by the grace of God I am what I am.” James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Real Christianity teaches that every good action is performed by God’s grace. Everybody, Christian or non-Christian, is on the same moral level, sinful and broken and incapable of morality. It is grace that enables morality, and it is a common grace that is given to Christians and non-Christians alike. Furthermore, take into account the saying, “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” Jesus Himself said in Mark 2:17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Christianity actually attracts those who are, in a sense, less “moral”, than those who are more “moral”. Thus, Assumption #1 is false. Christians do not preach morality. Hypocrisy is not walking the talk. If there is no claim, if there is no Assumption #1, if there is no such talk, how can there be hypocrisy?

Note: Obviously, “Christians preach morality” does have some truth. There are obviously moral commands in the Bible. By the word “morality”, I mean the notion that Christians are supposed to be moral due to their identity as Christians. Though morality is most definitely a natural result of being a Christian, it does not in any way mean that those who are Christians are more “moral.”

Okay, says my imaginary opponent, Christians are not hypocritical in morality, but what about in other areas?!

What then do Christians preach, if not morality? They preach repentance. Christians say that we cannot make it. It is by grace alone that we are saved. Therefore, we must repent and believe. Let’s try the hypocrisy assumption test on this teaching to see if Christians are hypocritical in this area. The following conditions must be true for Christians to be hypocritical.
1. Christians preach repentance.
2. Christians don’t repent.
Assumption #1 is true. Christians do preach repentance. But Assumption #2 is not. Why? Because people become Christians through repentance. One cannot be a Christian without repenting, because the very definition of a Christian involves repentance. All Christians repent. Those who have not repented are not Christians.

Therefore, true Christians are not hypocritical.

Those who preach morality are misrepresenting Christianity. Those who look down on non-Christians are misrepresenting Christianity. Those who do not act in accordance with love and repentance are misrepresenting Christianity. Do not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Gandhi claimed that Christians are so unlike Christ. And I would wholeheartedly agree. Christ was perfect. Christians do not claim to be perfect, because Christians are still in their sinful bodies. Therefore, it makes sense that Christians are so unlike Christ. But Christianity is not merely about us striving to be like Christ. The beauty of Christianity is that Christ became like us. Christ said that He loved us. Then He took the initiative and died for us. Christ walked the talk. That is the most unhypocritical you can get. That is Christianity.

– Larry