As he approached the Tulsa County Courthouse, I offered him a "Tips for the Courthouse" gospel tract that our evangelism team has designed. "What's this?" he asked politely. "It has some helpful information for your day in Court," I answered. I also explained to him that it contained a gospel message at the end. "Do you have a church background?" I asked, swinging the conversation to the spiritual. "I used to when I was younger," he answered, "but I left because they were a bunch of hypocrites."
Ever heard that one before? All the time. What do people expect? Of course the church is full of hypocrites, just like the rest of the world. Dictionary.com defines "hypocrite" as "a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs." We're all hypocrites. We all (or at least many people) try to live by virtues, moral values and beliefs of an altruistic nature, possibly even of a Christlike nature. I know I strive to be Christlike in all I do but, much like the Apostle Paul (Rom. 7), I find that there is evil, sinfulness, lust, greed, impatience, and other wicked qualities that war in my flesh against the desires of the spirit. As a result, I often behave in a way that's definitely hypocritical. Though I'm not pretending to be good but am truly striving to follow and live like my glorious Savior, the reality is that the internal battle rages on. It should come as no surprise that people both within the church and without will sometimes fail us, not live up to our expectations, and do and say things that appear totally hypocritcal.
I responded to Frank by explaining that the hypocrisy he witnessed in the church is not cause to leave the church and abandon God and the Bible, but rather it is sure evidence that he can trust that what the Bible says is true--we are desperately wicked and deceitful (Jer. 17:19), even when we're in the church. That's precisely why we need the church, we need God, and we need his Word to slowly but surely work sanctification in our lives and transformation into his image.
Frank told me that he had become a pagan. He showed me the pentagram necklace he was wearing. He believed that aliens planted us on the planet, our so he said. Frank, I said, the Bible declares that it is appointed for man to die once and we will then appear before God in judgment to give account for our lives (Heb. 9:27). I explained that God will judge him fairly according to his moral law, the 10 Commandments. I asked him how he would be judged if he were to appear before God today. He didn't know. As I walked him through God's law, the conviction was obvious. He quickly decided to end the conversation and had to leave.
While I prepare myself to give a defense for the hope that I have in the Lord, I always strive to steer people back to the law of God to show them their need for a savior. The conscience is a powerful evidence of the truth of God's word (Rom. 2:15). I pray Frank will re-evaluate his eternal welfare before it's too late.
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