Thoughts on hypocrisy

Ted Haggard has admitted he bought methamphetamine, but said he didn't use it, and only received a massage from the alleging prostitute, a Denver man by the name of Mike Jones.

Art Toalston, the editor of Baptist Press, reported that Jones public with the allegations because it was “the moral thing in my mind, and that is expose someone who is preaching one thing and doing the opposite behind everybody’s back.”

Toalston continues: No doubt, there are hypocrites, imperfect people and even addicts of all kinds within the Christian community. To their credit, however, these individuals have the courage to embrace a faith that challenges their sin and seeks to redeem their lives.

Sadly, people outside the faith have no such resource. Hypocrites, imperfect people and addicts who lack the transforming dynamic of Christian faith have only the frailty of human will upon which to build lives of integrity. Followers of Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, gain a new foothold for battling the dark facets of their humanity.

Rarely are addictions to various forms of depravity easily broken. A relationship with Jesus always will prove to be an uplifting, precious addition to a believer’s life, and some believers may see their weaknesses and addictions quickly fall away. But, for others, struggles with the inner churnings of sin may continue to exist after they have turned to Jesus for salvation. Some believers may find that their earlier addictions remain ever-ready to erupt. It may be months or years before all of their sinful habits and inclinations are eradicated.

And so, it is entirely possible for a believer to be what the world calls a “hypocrite,” to believe with all of his or her heart that such-and-such a behavior is sinful yet, in a weak moment, commit that sin.

In the interim, the communion with Jesus increasingly becomes a desperately needed place of refuge after each defeat. The believer cries out to God, placing the entirety of his or her life under the Lord’s forgiveness as promised in Scripture. “If we confess our sins,” as 1 John 1:9 notes, “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” The believer knows that sooner or later, “... you may be sure that your sin will find you out,” as Moses declared to the Israelites long ago, as Scripture recounts in Numbers 32:23.

When that moment of truth and tumult finally comes, the believer’s faith in Jesus will provide the grace and fortitude to face even public embarrassment or great personal loss if, ultimately, such tragedy is required in order to attain a long-yearned-for, more complete life of purity with God.An accusatory type of guilt often sweeps over believers throughout these struggles.

Whether quietly nagging at their souls or aggressively pounding against their minds and even their bodies, the guilt seems to have a demonic energy, demanding an answer to such taunts as “You’re despicable. How can someone like you call yourself a Christian?”

This guilt is not confined to Christians. Open-hearted nonbelievers likewise are beaten down after various episodes of sin by the roar of such taunts as “You’re a hopeless mess. How can someone like you ever think of knowing God?”

Sadly, we greatly underestimate God’s forgiveness, refashioning His grace into something on the level of our humanity. We who have found new birth fail to live in all its glorious dimensions. For non-Christians, this can be especially tragic if the taunts cut short their quest for faith, derailing their dreams of a new birth and a rescue from the despair of godlessness.

Teachings about forgiveness, however, abound in Scripture. God’s forgiveness is best experienced when taken at its face value from Scripture. Just as the new birth supernaturally gives people a totally new start in life, so God’s forgiveness supernaturally provides that same new start each time His followers realize they have acted wrongly and, turning anew to Him in prayer, ask for His forgiveness.

By God’s supernatural grace, we gain the opportunity to become as fresh as the first day He entered our lives, poised to venture forth again in ever-more-rejuvenating faith.