I'm a hypocrite...

And I'm judgmental too. Last Monday and Tuesday I was away in Asheville, NC for a pre-site visit for a conference this fall. I was there with 3 fellow student pastor's and we got to talking politics. In very short time our talk to turned to our mutual dislike of Mitt Romney. One of the guys asked if it was okay that the only reason he didn't like Romney was because he was mormon. I said of course, because that was one of the myriad reasons I didn't like the guy, along with the fact that he smiles too much and he has a scary laugh. But if I'm honest one of the real reason I didn't and don't like Mitt Romney is because he is mormon. That covers judgmentalism. Now onto hypocrisy.

Friday morning I woke up and watched The Today Show for a little bit, as is my custom in the morning. Matt Lauer was doing an interview with Anne Coulter. Ms. Coulter was whining about how she would rather vote for Hillary Clinton than for John McCain because Sen. McCain isn't conservative enough for her. I immediately began to argue in my head with Ms. Coulter because I thought her logic was stupid. As I explained this to Amber she reminded me that, although she agreed with my position, I was using as little logic in regards to Gov. Romney as Ms. Coulter was using in regards to Sen. McCain. So now not only was I judgmental, but I was a judgmental hypocrite.

Now, what does this have to do with anything? Good question. As I thought this through I realized that the church is guilty of this same syndrome, but with far greater consequences. The church today is full of judgmental hypocrites who choose only to see things through their eyes and then pronounce everyone else stupid for not agreeing with their position. How is that winsome? How is that attractive to a world that is desperate to be changed by the power of the Gospel? Much like the political arena today, the church is being torn apart from within instead of uniting itself around what we should all agree on. Our world is lost and dying and needs the Gospel. As I was reminded this weekend, politics pale in comparison to the Gospel.

In an unrelated matter, I was a little late in starting the Puritan Challenge this year and am just now reading The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes. In closing, here is a quote that I found quite humbling:

"Ungodly spirits, ignorant of God's ways in bringing His children to heaven, censure broken-hearted Christians as miserable persons, whereas God is doing a gracious good work with them. It is no easy matter to bring a man from nature to grace, and from grace to glory, so unyielding and intractable are our hearts."