Stand Firm/Love Well | What the World Needs to See | Hypocrites

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.  1 Peter 2:12

We can paraphrase it this way: “Live in such a way that if you were to be accused of evil, no one would believe it.” We cannot do this if there is a separation between our public and our private lives. Some people are so comfortable with self-deception that they scarcely notice the discrepancy. “My faith is a private matter,” they say. “No one can judge me.” This is never spoken by someone pursuing holiness, it is always trumpeted by a person who thinks worship is an activity we engage in on Sundays between 9 and 11. They don’t understand that real Christianity also surrenders the rest of the week to the lordship of Jesus. 

We don’t worry about being judged if we aren’t doing things that deserve judgement. God calls us to live authentically, with no dividing line between our Sunday morning selves and our Friday night selves. If there is such a line, we are hypocrites. So many people professing Christ have been exposed as hypocrites that the pagan world is cynical about all things spiritual. They want to see authenticity. One reason every White House for 70 years welcomed Billy Graham was due to his authentic Christian life. He lived what he preached, publicly and privately. The world is hungry to see more of that. Billy Graham was not a Super-Christian. There are none. He was an authentic Christian and God calls us all to live that way.

Final Thought: Is there a divide between your Sunday morning self and the rest of the week?

Prayer: Father, search my heart. I want to start by being honest with you and myself. Am I a hypocrite? Do I act all Christian at church but live sinfully the rest of the time? I don’t want to be a fake, and I’m ready to live authentically. In Jesus’ name, Amen.