I was talking to a friend about church. Actually the converstaion started out about whether alcohol should be permitted in the church and went from there. He stated that, “I don’t get into all that religious stuff because I don’t want to be called a hypocrite.” At first I thought it was a weak excuse, and then I realized what he was truly saying. It is probably the only real reason that someone who does believes in Christ doesn’t want to accept him as LORD. What it really comes down to is “If I accept Christ then I cannot continue to do the things that I want to do!” It is mainly just a flat excuse out of rebellion on the part of the sinner. This is an example of someone who does not have “The Fear of the Lord!”
I do however resent the fact that what he was saying is, “that all Christians are just Hypocrites anyway.” I think that it is just an excuse, but also degrades the whole Christian faith at the same time. It is not that the Church is filled with Hypocrites. It is that the Church is filled with People (Sinners) who have been saved by grace and mess up every once in a while. We are all human. The only difference is in whom we are trying to follow. Are we trying to follow the father of this world, or our Heavenly Father, who sent His Son to die for our sins?
Every other religion in the world is about “man trying to get to heaven by what he does.” This is however not what grace is all about. Grace is all about God coming to us to bridge the gap that we cannot fill on our own. It is like trying to jump the Grand Canyon. We can run as fast as we can and jump, but we are not going to get all the way across. Some people are good enough that they can jump a little further, but the fact is that we cannot do it on our own initiative. The only way to get across is getting the Help necessary. Only God can pick us up and place us on the other side. Jesus is like the bridge that connects each side. You just have to choose to take the bridge. Still some try to jump across – the problem is that they are not going to be able to make it on their own.
Essentially the Good News (Gospel) is that God prepared a way to get to him. All we have to do is accept His help. That means trying to follow His direction for our lives. Granted we all make some mistakes, but he will pick us up and dust us off and we can continue on our journey. It is not that Christians are Hypocrites, It is that we are Human.
If you are reading this and want to accept Christ, follow the information provided below and the contact someone that can help you in your new faith Journey.
How to receive Christ:
1. Admit your need – The need for a saviour to help you. (I am a sinner.)
2. Be willing to turn from your sins – essentailly to try and do right before God. (Repent.)
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive him as Lord and Savior.)
What to Pray:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that you died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you want to talk to someone or for Prayer visit:
Clear Lake Baptist Church
Embracing God 
I think you mixed up 2 different things in conversation with your friend. You said, you told him about church, not about God.
Are you sure he doesnt believe in God? He could be probably right saying that church is full of hypocrites….who knows. But he didnt say the children of God are hypocrites.
If you dont mix it up, you will probably see that difference in between God and the church.
The conversation was really about alcohol and just morphed into a conversation about, Church, Religion, and so forth and so on.
I don’t think that it is really about whether or not he believes, because I think that he really does believe. He just doesn’t want to give up on a conviences in life and in the long run certain sins. That is why he doen’t want to accept it.
However, there is a problem with just belief – the Bible says that the demons believe and tremble. There is more to the Christian life then just belief – there is the action of making him LORD in our life and as a result a lifestyle change.
I did actually talk to him about God too, but you are right about it being more about God then church. Too many people do confuse a life of evangelism with just “take them to church” and your point is well taken.
However there is a problem with the use of “Children of God.” This is a Christainese type wording that most would not use unless they are Christains already. And if they are, the conversation would be directed more about a different issue.
I think you might have missed my point though, and that is that it is not about the church is filled with Hypocrites – but it is filled with sinners bought through the blood of our LORD Jesus and saved by Grace. We are all human and make mistakes. If we were perfect, we wouldn’t be in need of a saviour. The idea is to realize this and do our best to live our lives for Christ even when we mess up. Let him pick us up, dust us off, and try again.
make him than to experience the Truth, may be he gives up than…