"Men are Pigs" . . . or "If we really lived out faith"

I spent this last week having such deep and gut-wrenching conversations with people who are going through such horrible things in their lives.  Most of the problems were brought on by men who abuse alcohol or drugs and then abuse the people they claim to love.  Some lock themselves in their rooms, turn on the TV and turn off the world.  The rest of the family has dinner while one chair is empty.  


I am on a rotation of people who meet with those who are going through rough times and need someone to talk to.  This was my week.  The week to hear of self-centered and emotionally immature people who wreak havoc on the lives of the people that love them.  


Part of me wants to just smack them and get them somehow to wake up and see what great treasure awaits them if they realized that people love them and are willing to help them out of their own malaise.  But they turn to drugs or alcohol or other addictions that help soothe and medicate the pain they feel.  One person is scared about the growing anger they feel within.  Another is worried about the results of years of alienation.  Like I said, most of them were women who have been through terrible storms in life because of men who never grew up.  Men who chose to sulk, pout, hit, punch, verbally abuse or otherwise intimidate the people in their lives.  


It makes me want to hurt those people . . . to scream and holler . . . to threaten them to get a grip on life and stop hurting others.  But doesn't that just continue the cycle of intimidation and violence?  God, how do you do it?  How do you suffer through another day of these people hurting the innocent?


It is funny, my blog post from the other day on Facebook read, "Christians mess up everything" and an old cynical friend from high school reacted with a reply: "I agree."  Perhaps that was a touch of Catholic school speaking, but it is a day like this that I couldn't disagree with him more.  If people actually lived out the Christian faith this world would be different.  Christianity doesn't mess up the world - actors who play Christianity do.


Imagine a world where people never lied.  Never cheated - at school or on loved ones.  Imagine a place where no one stole from a store or from someone's marriage.  Imagine a world where no one was made a sexual object.  Everyone honored their parents and loved the hard-to-love.  Imagine a world where people put others' interests first.  


Christianity is a great idea . . . if we ever chose to live it.  


We hear so much about how religion divides and fractures people, but imagine a world where true faith was enacted.  It is possible.  Really.

#7: How Can I Put My Trust in a Religion full of Hypocrites?

   In the last 50 years we have seen a parade of hypocrites across the stage of faith.  It is really disgusting.  Perhaps the pinnacle was in the 80's when Jimmy Swaggart was caught in a scandal and he tearfully repented in a way that just made you want to go throw up.  It just seemed like an enormous act.  A few years later he was caught in another scandal with pornography and when it was discovered his response was that it was none of our business . . . that it was between he and God.


   The problem is that when you get in the preaching business nothing is just between you and God.  When you get on the stage in front of others and ask them to turn their attention to God you are either sincere or you are acting.  Now we can't be the judge of another person, but it seemed like Jimmy Swaggart was all drama and no substance . . . we can only hope that isn't the case anymore.


   Hypocrites are precisely that - actors and actresses.  It was Jesus who coined the phrase "hupo kritas" - actor or "one who wears a mask."  Religious phonies wear a mask to get you and I to follow them or give them money or both.


   But lets be clear with this - everyone has jumped on the hypocrite bandwagon and not all Christians are hypocrites.  I know some people who call Christians hypocrites just because they disagree about something.  A hypocrite is someone who intends to deceive by wearing a mask.  Outwardly they are one thing . . . while inwardly they are something completely different.  So if you have ever disagreed with a Christian or maybe even had your feelings hurt or were in some other way offended by a person of faith that does not mean they are a hypocrite . . . it just means they are human.  You can't blame someone for being human.  Christians are just as messed up as the rest of us - but they are forgiven.


   But then there are the hypocrites that act their phony faith in front of us and send us to the exit row of faith.  We are tired of their drama.  This is a shame because in the same way you wouldn't leave your favorite play just because someone forgets a line, you shouldn't skip out on faith because some people are hypocrites.  That simply gives the hypocrite too much power in your life.


  Imagine turning off this year's superbowl just because you didn't like the way the national anthem was sung.  What would you have missed?  That is an awful lot of power that was exerted over you - it made you miss a great game.  Now imagine walking out on faith because of a Jimmy Swaggart in your life . . . what kind of power do they have in your life?  In the same way that no one person should keep you from enjoying your favorite play or favorite football game, no hypocrite should be an excuse for you to discover the truth about God.


   So stop giving hypocrites all that power.  As an expression of your disgust at hypocrisy . . . give faith a second chance.


   Click on the video "Hypocrite" and share with friends . . .