Religious Hypocrisy

[shellbyrne]

Christians are Hypocrites

People mis-apply or misunderstand this term hypocrite.  I have used it myself and I have heard SO many people use this term when talking about Christians / religious/ churchgoers. 

When I converted, I realized how hard being a Christian, especially orthodox, was.  It is THE hardest spiritual discipline.  It is next to impossible to achieve perfection during our earthly lifetime, but for God's grace, which He bestows on us according to His will. 

We are sinners, we constantly fall short but the key is in our striving, which is not always as visible as our failures.  Heck, even our virtues and good deeds aren't always visible!

We live in a secular world which has no regard for piety.  Yet worldly people love to point out our shortcomings and hypocrisy.  But for what ideal are they themselves striving?  They profess nothing, therefore what is there to judge them against?

When looking at a supposed "hypocrite", does the judge of this hypocrisy look into their heart?  Know their struggles, hear their confessions, understand their background, what their particular temptations are?  See how it might even eventually damn them?

Can the judge of hypocrisy in others point that high-powered perception at themselves as well?

It goes both ways, I have found that in talking to people about Christianity / Church, many people use "hypocrisy" as a convenient hook on which they can hang all their excuses.  I have come to believe that many people use this as intellectual and spiritual laziness, so they don't have to seek any further, nor commit to God's calling, nor examine their own conscience in the light of eternity.

It's so much easier to say "Christians/churchgoers are hypocrites, therefore I don't want to / have to bother with that."

Christianity especially gets a bad rap, due to Jesus' insistent distinction between the inner and outer man, as in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.  In some other religions, you can belong, and it doesn't much matter what's in your heart.  Christianity examines thoughts, feelings, words and actions as well as failure to act.  That's a hard discipline!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that there are no hypocrites.  Any human institution or /establishment will have its hypocrites - we've all experienced true hypocrisy.  Listen to the lofty rhetoric used by politicians, when we know most of them are corrupt.   It's because human nature itself is fallen and weak.  It doesn't mean our ideals are bad.

Yet we can only be responsible for ourselves - we cannot blame others for "setting a bad example" when we also have good examples to follow.

I think St Seraphim put it beautifully what our attitude ought to be, which is why the saints are held up as the best examples of Christian virtue:  Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace.  That goes for everybody.