The Hypocrisy of Virtue

I'll never forget the conversation I had with my little girl about a week after she started kindergarten.

Stephanie seemed upset as I was tucking her into bed that evening, so I asked her if anything was wrong. She looked at me sadly and said, "Daddy, it's so hard to be good, and it's so easy to get into trouble."

Oh, little girl, truer words were never spoken!

I hated to have to tell her that she was right, and that it was pretty much the way life is. We are never more than one step away from stepping in it, and the road we travel in this life is fraught with peril.

If you are a Christian, you have a big advantage in dealing with the issues of life, since you are acquainted with, and hopefully striving to live for, the Creator of the universe. Knowing God, and living as a recipient of His grace, mercy and guidance, certainly gives you a leg up on anyone in the world who is struggling to make sense of it all without any divine revelation.

The problem is, even though we know God, and have received the salvation that Jesus died to secure for us, we are still sinful human beings. We are simply sinful human beings who have been redeemed by His grace.

I love to talk to people about the Lord, because He has been so good to me. He reached down and rescued me at the lowest point of my life. In my hour of greatest need, when I was convinced that God had rejected me, He graciously wrapped His arms around me and lifted my soul up into the glory of His presence.

I can never forget what He did for me. I could spend the rest of eternity recounting the multitudes of ways that He has blessed me, guided me, and loved on me in these ensuing years. God is good, and truly His mercies are new every morning. I can never thank Him enough.

However, like the little girl said, it is so hard to be good, and so easy to get into trouble.

As Christians, we are called to be witnesses for God before an unbelieving world. The Bible says that we are ambassadors for Christ, and that we serve as priests with a ministry of reconciliation. We are supposed to let our light shine before men so that they will praise our Father in heaven. Jesus told his disciples at the last supper that the world would know that we were His followers by the love that we showed for one another.

Needless to say, we generally don't do a very good job at any of these noble pursuits.

Now some of you reading this may be so sanctified that you don't understand what I am talking about. If so, congratulations to you. You must be on the A-list.

But I am willing to wager that most people, unfortunately, are more like me. Most of us fail repeatedly at righteous living. Temptations hide around every corner, stumbling blocks litter the sidewalks, and our own sinful natures war against us without ceasing.

Every morning when your feet hit the floor, a new day of spiritual warfare begins. You live in a battle zone, and it is important that you realize it. Otherwise, you can be ensnared and caught unaware by an enemy who wants to destroy your life and your soul. We live in a fallen world, and living right will never come naturally to us.

So it is hard to go out into the world, and share the good news of the gospel with people we know, because all they have to do is look at us to see that we aren't doing all that great a job of living for God ourselves.

I call this conundrum the Hypocrisy of Virtue.

The people closest to you know what you are like. They know how you just cut off the guy in the red minivan at the intersection, or how you went off on your spouse at dinner last night because you were in a bad mood, or how you called in sick at work because you stayed up too late the night before and really just wanted to sleep in. They know when you are selfish, or spiteful, or harsh with someone else. The list could go on and on.

Unrepentant sinners like to use our failings to excuse themselves from getting serious with God. If their hearts are hard, they can look at us and tell themselves, "I'm not so bad. That hypocrite Dave is trying to talk to me about God, and look what a schmuck he is."

Thankfully, Jesus looks upon us with more compassion. Yes, Dave is a schmuck, but by God's grace, he is doing better now than he did then. He is not yet where he is supposed to be, but he is not stuck way back where he used to be, either.

I keep a little magnet on my refrigerator that always encourages me. It is shaped like a caterpillar, and the caption below it says, "Be patient, God isn't finished with me yet."

Whatever my failings may be, you are still responsible before God for your own sinfulness. Until you can humble yourself before God, admit that you need His grace, and ask Jesus to take control of your life and forgive your sins, you are lost forever.

Unless you surrender your heart to Jesus, you are doomed for eternity. As Jesus declared to Nicodemus in John 3:3 -- "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

So I'll choose to take the risk of being labeled a hypocrite. At the end of my days, I would rather stand before God as a failed saint than a successful sinner.