Spectacular Liars

Let me just preface this with the fact that I’m writing this with a (probably un)healthy level of frustration with myself and others.  Just something that's been simmering for...a while.  But here we go anyway…

One of the common criticisms used against any church or religion is that there are a ton of hypocrites.  And we, the church, need to be quick and ready to respond with strong agreement!  We, both corporately and as individuals, regularly show that we can easily ignore the principles of the faith that we claim.  But I honestly believe that our hypocrisy is rarely tied to the fact that we publicly act in ways that we condemn.  Instead, I think our hypocrisy is tied to the fact that we are such spectacular liars…

In our culture, image is everything…and our religious subculture is no different.  I go to work and try to look busy (even when I’m not).  We go to church and try to look like we’ve got it all together…that we’re living our lives dedicated to God when most of the time we care, more than anything, about satisfying our personal desires (and our ‘religion’ is part of that).  And this hypocrisy is completely in conflict with what we’ve been called to in Christ! 

Most people would probably say that Paul had some of the greatest impact (other than Jesus) on the shape of Christian faith.  But Paul called himself the ‘chief’ of sinners…he wrote out descriptions of his sin and publicly admitted that he struggled against his desires.  James told us to confess our sins to each other, but do we really welcome confession?  Derek Webb (probably not up there with Paul and James, but whatever) once said that the best thing for all of us would be if our sins were broadcast on the 5 o’clock news.  But imagine if Ted Haggard had gone to the elders of his church (or, gasp! the entire congregation) and confessed that he was being tempted to give in to his desire for drugs and extra-marital sex.  You’d hope that they would pray with and for him…that they would beg for God to heal him and give him strength and a renewed desire for what is good.  But odds are, it would’ve spread out through the gossip network and the ‘righteous’ would’ve step forward to pass judgment. 

No wonder people say ‘screw it’ and go big once they’ve crossed the line from temptation into action!!!  They know there’s nothing but negativity ahead, so why not try and get some fleeting pleasure while they still can?  They (and we) have tied their identity so tightly to their failure that they see no way out.

For some reason, we’ve decided to allow actions (missteps or good deeds…either way) to define us and the people around us.  I know the Bible talks about knowing someone by their 'fruit', but doesn’t our personal identity come from our standing in Christ?  If Jesus came and died so that we could be seen as righteous in the eyes of the Father, what makes the way we see ourselves or others so important?  My holiness is NOT defined by my actions!!!!  And your perception of my holiness borders on irrelevant unless I’m intentionally causing others to stumble.  Instead of passing judgment on those that are not living up to certain standards (or are even living in open rebellion), shouldn’t we approach them with love and a readiness to admit our own failures…our own weakness? 

A lot of churches have tried to do this with ‘accountability’ groups, and some of them do a great job.  But some of the time, they (again) shift the focus towards our behavior instead of the state of our heart or our faith.   Over time, this just encourages a front all over again…or (maybe) worse, it encourages changes in behavior while the heart stays the same.  And this goes back to the first lie…that we can do this on our own…that we don’t need God.  Reminds me of another Derek Webb line – “I’ll clean up this act and be worse than when we started.” 

I think that’ll do.  As an aside, I realize that I tend to rage against the machines that we’ve built.  But this in no way indicates that I want to tear people down…I believe we need to see ourselves for who we are (if it’s just me, then I guess I’m WAY off base…sorry?).  We need to beg God to heal us, tear apart the lies that we believe and propagate, and give us a true faith that is focused on him instead of us.  But despite all that, I love the country that I get to serve.  I love the family that God uses to bless and challenge me every day.  And I love the ‘dysfunctional family’ that makes up the spectacularly beautiful body of Christ (to steal a quote from my friend Bobby with a capital ‘B’). 

Ok…that’ll do for real.