I have been having an online discussion about political and spiritual matters with a friend. One of his recurring arguments against Christianity is the hypocrisy of Christians. Basically we don't practice what we preach.
Because the standard set by God for us is perfection, no Christian will, this side of heaven, live in a way that is absolutely consistent with his or her belief all the time, every time. Does that mean that all Christians have no choice but to be hypocrites then?
Merriam-Webster defines hypocrisy this way: 1: a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not ; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion
2: an act or instance of hypocrisy
Believing in a standard but failing to live up to it does not automatically constitute hypocrisy. Otherwise the only people on earth, Christian or otherwise, who are not hypocrites are those who have no standards.
The key word is "feigning." Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you are not, or acting like you believe something that you really don't. Assuming that you are genuinely trying, failing to live up to a standard is just that - failure, not hypocrisy. Hiding the fact that you are a sinner is hypocrisy.
In order to overcome the hypocrisy label, Christians must do two things: 1. live as consistently with the standards of belief as possible 2. be honest about the difficulties and failures trying to live that life. Maybe then the fallacy of having to be "good" before setting foot in a church would fall as well.
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