Celebrate God’s Grace

I’m a hypocritical Christian.

A talk and not walk, fall woefully short of the Glory of God…Christian. Don’t believe me? Just ask my wife.

The other day she posed to me the most troubling question: “Why aren’t you the same guy who writes those articles on your Blog?”

Ouch. Or as illustrated in the old Batman television series, “Pow,” “Wham,” and “Zing.”

Now these painful words would be sure to draw my bitter protest and skillful repartee if they weren’t so incredibly spot on.

And before I share this story in any way that would disparage my wife, it’s important to know that God provided me with the perfect woman. With me being full of pie-in-the-sky ideas and often found gleefully doggie-paddling in pools of self-delusion, the Great Matchmaker merely pointed down from the Heavens and said, “I can fix that,” and sent me my lovely bride.

Which is why when she speaks such truth to me, I’ve learned to listen.

Yes. Why can’t I be more like the Christian I so enjoy pontificating about?

In fact, why are so many of us hypocritical Christians? Why can’t we just be all God wants us to be?

The Blueprint

There is no question God is against us being a fraudulent hypocritical Christian. Being a phony Christian makes us a false witness and can cause devastation to those who we would willfully lead astray.

But, if we’re a hypocritical Christian in the sense that we have a clear hope and blueprint for what God would call us to be, that’s just part of being a disciple of Christ. After all, the Apostles had the unique benefit of getting mentored daily, in person, by Jesus himself. Yet, even after three years they were still struggling in their faith at the time of His crucifixion.

Being a Blueprint variety of a hypocritical Christian is all part and parcel of the Christian walk. We know we have a ways to travel, but we’re guided daily by the vision God has placed for us on the horizon and we pursue it with passion and persistence.

The Mountain

But it’s hard. It can be frustrating. And sometimes we believe the lie that we’re going nowhere. Which is why it’s good to look upon our Christian walk as we would climbing a mountain.

As a Believer we know we’ll never reach the pinnacle of that mountain in our time here on earth. We can never be perfect like Christ, even though this remains the goal. And the ascent can be grueling and we can grow weary.  Which is why it’s so important, at times, to stop and look down to see how far we’ve come. These reflective moments provide a great opportunity to give God credit for the work He’s done in us.

Celebrate God’s Grace

For not only is this a time to celebrate how His hands have molded the clay of our character, but to thank God for His patience. His Grace. His many gifts he’s provided us–like my wonderful wife–people who challenge, love and encourage us along the way.

We should revel in the knowledge that while we struggle in our paper bodies, and our fallen ways, He’s with us throughout the entire journey.

Yes. God loves hypocritical Christians. Just like you and me.