A writer recently wrote Dr. Laura: "When I was in high school and for most of college, I didn’t live up to the standards I now hold...How can I stand up for values which I didn’t live? Will I be called a hypocrite? Am I one?"

Richard Reeves recently wrote that what many of President Clinton’s critics hate most is "what they see as his...hypocrisy." He elaborates: "What [they] hate most is photographs of Clinton coming out of church, wife, daughter and Bible in hand—looking for all the world like one of them, a Baptist image of the perfect and devout Christian family. It kills them to see that Sunday ritual."

No doubt about it, hypocrisy has a bad name. Many would hold to the Dutch proverb: "Better to be a sinner than a hypocrite."

I think we may be a little too hasty and severe in our criticism of hypocrites. After all, hypocrisy has its good side. Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld wrote: "Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue." At least the hypocrite knows that he or she should be better.

C. S. Lewis pointed out that all pretense is not bad: "There is a bad kind, where the pretense is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is also a good kind, where the pretence leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were...Let us pretend in order to make the pretence into a reality."

And what about us professional Christians? I agree with the often repeated statement that a preacher should practice what he preaches. On the other hand, a congregation has a mighty poor preacher who preaches only what he practices. I hope to provide a good example, but I call people to follow a higher example than me. I call for them to follow Christ.

Maybe your resolution for the new year should be to risk being more of a hypocrite—act better than you are.

Another good resolution would be to attend church more regularly and heed the words of Arthur Adams: "Don’t stay away from church because there are so many hypocrites. There’s always room for one more."


©1998 C. David Hess

(I received the following litany via e-mail--ultimate source unknown)

Dearest Lord:

For every string of lights that doesn't go out before New Year's, we thank You.
For not having a fire from bad wiring and overloaded circuits, we thank You.
For not coming up with an extra branch at the end of the tree assembly, we thank You.
For a parking space within a three-mile radius of WalMart, we beg You.
For still being able to stick on last year's bows, we thank You.
For 3M and all Scotch Tape, we thank You.
For batteries size C, D, and AA, we thank You.
For the cookies in the exchange that are better than our own, we thank You.
For department stores and malls that DON'T play "Gramma Got Run Over
By A Reindeer", we thank You.
For people behind counters who are still able to smile, we thank You.
For any special holiday programming that pre-empts the impeachment hearings, we especially thank You.
For not receiving ANY fruitcake, we thank You.
For ANY store open 24 hours, we thank You.

From people like Martha Stewart, who have all their shopping done, and
packages wrapped by the end of October, spare us, O Lord.
From relatives who come over on Christmas, turn on the TV and watch
football during our dinner, deliver us, O Lord.
From imbibing too heavily at the office party, and telling the boss
what we REALLY think of him, spare us, O Lord.
From completely maxing out our credit cards, deliver us, O Lord.
From eggnog with salmonella, spare us, O Lord.
From people who leave in the package of gizzards when they cook the
turkey, spare us, O Lord.
From loud, obnoxious-sounding toys, deliver us, Lord.
From ANY toy resembling a purple dinosaur, spare us, O Lord.

Let us pray...
Merciful God, please get us through this holiday season intact in
mind, heart, and spirit! Please help us to remember what the Holidays
are truly about... Forgive us when all the other things distract us,
because it's so easy to get distracted at this time!!! Help us to
share Your Love, and be kind to one another, even at these stressful
times; and to be grateful for all that we have- especially for those
gifts that cannot be wrapped, like kindness, patience, the love of
friends and family, and also forgiveness. Bless all Your Children
everywhere, this season, and always! AMEN!!!


©1998 C. David Hess