Hypocrite! Hypocrite!

Over at the Recliner Commentaries, my Pastor has posted an article he wrote refuting the recent Newsweek article which attempted to make a "religious case for gay marriage." His post is well thought out and worth spending the time to read, however, this post has to do with the comment section from his refutation.

It seems that a commenter by the name of Steve has some real issues with Christians opposing "gay marriage". In fact the long and short of his various comments come down to this. It is hypocritical for Christians to spend more time opposing "gay marriage" than they do in opposing the liberalization of divorce laws since both of these things weaken the institution of marriage. The exchanges in the comments section have been numerous and heated.

I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on these subjects, but to narrow this post down to a manageable size I want to comment on only one aspect. To the cry of "Hypocrite! Hypocrite!", I answer; Guilty! Guilty!

You see, that is what real Christianity is all about. Being a hypocrite. Despite God's work of giving us a new spirit, redeeming us by his blood, and making us free from the penalty for our sins, we are still stuck with this flesh. And as long as we are stuck with this flesh we will continue to sin.

Paul touches on this in Romans 7:18-24 where he says: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

So, if your complaint is that Christians are hypocrites, then you are right indeed. But being a hypocrite does not relieve a Christian of his duty to proclaim God's word; all of it, even when it is not convenient. This is a Christian's duty, even when he will be called a hypocrite and unloving for doing it. Yes, a Christian is to proclaim God's word in as loving a manner as he can, but what could be more unloving than not proclaiming it at all.

I, for one, am longing for the day when I no longer have this sinful flesh to deal with.