Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy;
The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
An act or instance of such falseness

I have been thinking quite a bit about hypocrisy lately. I have come to the conclusion that the word is used far too often and I think really improperly especially in church settings.
Before you judge me let me explain. The word has been used for people who believe or say one thing and then do another. This is really not the meaning. You see from what I can tell the word implies a level of willful deception. But most often people use the word to describe those who believe something and do something that contradicts their belief. That's not what the definition says at all. It says you profess beliefs, feelings or virtues that you do not hold.
So to say I am a Christian for instance, but really I am a satanist. That is hypocrisy.
To say that I am a runner but really I am a couch sitter. That is hypocrisy.

The word seems to be applied to those who aspire to goals and beliefs but fall short of attaining or living up to them. Like professing that I am a Christian, but today I lost my temper. Some might say if you loose your temper and profess Christianity you are a hypocrite. But this doesn't really meet that burden of deception does it. It would seem to fall in the category of missing the mark instead.

The reason I write this is two-fold.
One; because broken people who are searching for God are often too hard to judge themselves hypocritical because of constant failure to live up to their beliefs or those of others, and end up feeling devalued and defeated.

Two; judgemental folks often misdiagnose failure to attain, as hypocrisy and come down hard on others especially those who are weak among us or those who are young, resulting in a retreat from Christianity by the seeker, or young in faith. Ultimately resulting in another judgement by some of those that leave the Christian scene, that the church is full of hypocrisy.

To simplify;
A Christian who espouses love, who gets in fight or has some sort of moral failure. Probably not a hypocrite.

A person who says they are a Christian and full of the love of Christ so that they can receive charity from other Christians or churches, while in their heart and mind they don't believe in God or Christianity; definitely a hypocrite.

So as we go about our lives this week, be careful with your judgements of others and ourselves.
Set your bar high but be realistic about life when you fall short.

Romans 7 Paul writes this;

19 When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. 20 But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. 21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? F24 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.