Coffee With The Lord

Hypocrite! It has the ring of condemnation and disgust about it, doesn’t it? In fact after hearing the term used derisively, you almost want to add a word and say “dirty hypocrite!” We dislike intensely what the word represents… Someone who advocates one thing and practices quite another – someone who condemns others for their behavior and all the while are guilty of the same behavior. Dirty hypocrites!

I’ve said it before in my “Coffee with the Lord” posts… but I’ll admit it again – I am a recovering hypocrite! I confess it! I acknowledge it! And believe me, I turn from it and repudiate with repugnance the tendency in my life (that means that I “repent” of it). I want nothing to do with hypocrisy! Instead, with the Lord’s help and grace, I want to live a life of authentic righteousness! Never “holier than thou” – just “holy” with God’s help!

Was reminded of all of that as I read the following indictment of hypocrisy in the Bible this morning…

“Therefore you have no excuse – every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:1–11 ESV)

So, here’s the deal… I never want to stiffen and rebel when God deals with me! I don’t want to defend and justify my sin! I want to repent and turn from it! God is fair! He shows no partiality! He uses the same ruler to measure every man. No one gets by with anything. We all face judgment! There is only one solution… God’s forgiveness and mercy – and, praise the Lord, I need it and He gives it (1 John 1:8-9)! With His help I want to live a righteous life and please Him… “True blue” – righteous “inside-out” – that’s my desire! Help me Lord by your grace!

It’s as old as Eden – Adam and Eve engaged in it! Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! for our own neglect and behavior. The “blame game” when we want to shift the responsibility we have for our own mistakes and irresponsibility. I read about it in my Bible reading this morning…

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ The man replied, ‘I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ And the Lord God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.’ So the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman replied, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ (Genesis 3:8–13 NET)

Now I’m a happily married man and I have a wonderful, loving wife… but I admit it, I’ve been guilty a time or two (or more). And I’ve done my fair share of marriage counseling and I can tell you this issue is the cause of countless marriage difficulties. No one wants to take responsibility for their actions! The problem surfaces in all kinds of human relations – business, politics, education, simple friendships – and its always destructive! I don’t want to live that way!

I had a coach in high school with a pretty healthy philosophy of life that he applied to competitive sports but could be applied to most any area of life… Here it is…“No excuses!” 1 John 1:8-9 has the remedy… “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness!” And another one… “Confess (i.e. acknowledge) your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)

Oh, and in marriage – the relationship as old as Eden – This recommendation from the Bible seems like a good one… “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do the Lord… And husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (from Ephesians 5:21-33). Excuses and “the blame game” don’t solve any problems… they just complicate things.

Gonna, try to live that way at the outset of this New Year!

Just got back home from a wonderful time with friends and family over the Christmas-New Year’s holiday. Always enjoy those times… especially when we have the opportunity to move past superficial conversations and “small talk” and share with each other at a genuine “heart level” about the things of the Lord. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having simple, pleasant, wholesome conversation with friends (and I hope I’m not “so heavenly minded that I’m no earthly good!). But there is something incredibly uplifting about “heart-to-heart conversations” about the things of the Lord!
Even Apostle Paul craved this kind of mutual interchange… This is what he said, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. God, whom I serve in my spirit…is my witness that I continually remember you and I always ask in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, this is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:8-12 The NET Bible)
It takes a little effort, some risk and vulnerability, but why not move a conversation with a Christian friend (or better, a non-Christian seeker) beyond the surface level of just interests, hobbies, restaurants, favorite foods (or even diets) to the things of the Lord? (A conversation can begin with those things – but certainly with fellow Christians they shouldn’t get stuck there!)
Give it a try and I think you’ll discover what Apostle Paul discovered (and so have I)… You’ll have an opportunity to “impart some spiritual gift to strengthen them – and you’ll be mutually comforted by each others faith – both yours and theirs.”