Hypocrisy
Okay, let's talk hypocrisy. The gap between reality and theology, between our ideals and what we actually do. Let's get real. I’m tired of pansying around the issues. I'm tired of so many people throwing their ideals around, or in the predominant circle I run in, their theology around, and not actually getting in the mud and doing something about life. Maybe we should elect an atheist for president. He could take away all our ten commandment monuments (remind me again why we’re holding non-Christians to a standard of morality that we cannot, ourselves, obtain? When will we move from the law into grace? The washing machine was invented for crying out loud, why are you insisting on using the old wringer-washer system?). Maybe if we are stripped of all our privileges, like a teenage kid who gets the keys taken away, we might wise up and realize how we’ve gotten it all wrong. Jesus didn’t come so we could hold hands and sing lullabies in stadiums meant for football games. He didn’t come to make us feel warm and fuzzy while people stand outside in the cold, with empty bellies. And if we have to get creative, we might just start preaching the gospel through actions, letting the light shine from within, instead of using cotton-candy words that taste sweet but have no substance to them. Can we handle the rugged faith He asks of us, or are we so religiously obese that we would die of hear failure if we actually were required to pick up that beam and stumble to Golgotha? At the end will He care that we’ve had perfect pew attendance if we’ve forgotten to entertain the angels amongst us? And scarier yet, will He know us when we stand before Him?
Unfortunately it is so easy to talk about how badly others are screwing up in their position, just look at every discussion on politics, but in order to fix the world I must be willing to hold the mirror up to my own face. Why would I want to lump myself in with those overly idealistic individuals whose theology seems diametrically opposed to their reality? Ah yes, because in fact, I am one of them. I am broken. And today I cried, for all of my inadequacies, for all of the times I have neglected others, or for those I’ve ignored (out of ignorance or selfishness) and for all of those who needed a soft place to land and found nails instead. An apology seems so threadbare.
Thoreau said “if you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Unfortunately it is so easy to talk about how badly others are screwing up in their position, just look at every discussion on politics, but in order to fix the world I must be willing to hold the mirror up to my own face. Why would I want to lump myself in with those overly idealistic individuals whose theology seems diametrically opposed to their reality? Ah yes, because in fact, I am one of them. I am broken. And today I cried, for all of my inadequacies, for all of the times I have neglected others, or for those I’ve ignored (out of ignorance or selfishness) and for all of those who needed a soft place to land and found nails instead. An apology seems so threadbare.
Thoreau said “if you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”