“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requrements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.”
- Romans 2:25-27 (NIV)

Hypocrisy is probably one of the greatest destroyers of a testimony before men. It undermines our credibility, and damages relationships and trust. As men and women under the lordship of Jesus Christ, we need to scrutinize our lives, and make sure there isn’t a hint of contradiction. This is not only to prevent our lives from being a stumbling block to those seeking life and truth, but also to obey God’s commands to be holy.

People have often used the phrase “walk the talk” to describe the consistent life of one who is not hypocritical. While life actions does usually come after the gaining of knowledge through Scripture and the like, that phrase makes the assumption that what is said is according to Scripture. Often that isn’t the case, since an inconsistent lifestyle will often produce false doctrine. I once heard it said that “a man’s morality dictates his philosophy.” Christianity supercedes this idea, because the standard of God’s holiness has been set down in Scripture. So as Christ molds and shapes us to become perfect, since we are new creations, what we say and what we do begin to match up. If this process is received out of a heart of love and obedience, hopefully there won’t be a time when what is said is Scriptural, and what is done is not, or the other way around.

This isn’t to say that Christians never sin. On the contrary, as Paul continues to write in Romans, the remnant of the old self, the “flesh,” continues to have sinful desires. But remember that this flesh is no longer us; 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that those in Christ are new creations – meaning that we aren’t held captive by sin. So while Christians may still sin, there isn’t hypocrisy if we recognize our failures, and then confess and repent from it. I believe that Christians should be the most teachable, most correctable people in the world, because of the idea that man is inherently sinful. There is no distinction in degree of fallenness, and so we need to humbly accept correction and rebuke. Even when non-Christians point out our inconsistencies, we should be quick to repent. Of course, personal study in the Word should be a priority, since what people say might not line up with what Scripture teaches.

Regardless of the form of rebuke and correction, I think that being humble and quick to repent of sin strengthens our testimony, because we acknowledge that we are also obedient to God’s commands. Though we are no longer under the law (in that the law does not save us), we still obey the law, because it is of God. So let us be set apart in our actions, as well as in our speech, so that the light of Christ may shine boldly to those around us!