Hypocrisy

This word has popped up a lot recently. It makes me cringe. I truly try to live an authentic life in everything I do. Yes, I will admit I have done things I didn't really want to do or I'm sure there have been times where I've said one thing and done another thing. I don't claim perfection in this. So this is my current wrestling with the issue.

I'm reading a book called UnChristian by David Kinnaman. Essentially, he shares his findings of lots of research done by the Barna Group. They surveyed 16-29 year olds on their perceptions of Christians. The book is a little dry as it discusses so many numbers, however the results are sobering. One of the first negative perceptions (and most of the information collected was negative toward Christians) was that they are hypocritical.

Just last night in our bible study we were talking about an instance where someone was driving with a K-Love sticker (a Christian radio station) on their bumper, flippin' another driver the bird. I'd say that's hypocritical. So we all laughed as we collectively agreed with the statement, "And that's why I don't put Christian bumper stickers on my car." We don't want to be held to that standard, not having the bumper stickers makes it easier for us to be jerks on the road. According to society, it's worse when a Christian flips someone off then when a non-Christian does it? What's the difference?

So why is it as Christians we are held to a higher standard? Do non-Christians really know the standards to which Jesus called us? Or are they basing this judgement on how WE tell THEM the so-called right ways of living? This ties in so closely with being judgmental.

I'll unpack this more later!