Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
–James 5:16
As long as I’ve been a pastor, I can probably count on one hand the number of people who’ve walked into my office and said, “Pastor, I’ve got a sin to confess. I’m a hypocrite!” Some have, but not many. So why is that? Because the main goal of a hypocrite is to cover up, rather than reveal.
One thing I’ve learned to practice in my own spiritual walk is to ask God to search me and remove the veneer and the vestiges of hypocrisy in my own life. That’s because no matter how long we’ve believed or how spiritually mature we are, we’re never too advanced to be hypocrites – people who cover up who they really are.
Now I do talk to people all the time who are afraid of becoming hypocrites by coming to faith. That’s usually because they’re misinformed on what hypocrisy is. They see it as saying one thing and doing something else. But everyone does that. What really makes you a hypocrite is saying one thing, doing something else, then covering up your shortcomings as if they don’t exist.
Transparency is the key to avoiding hypocrisy. So admit your shortcomings. Confess where you fall short. When you’re open and honest about your struggles, you’ll steer completely clear of hypocrisy in your Christian walk.
AVOID HYPOCRISY BY BEING OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT YOUR STRUGGLES IN THE CHRISTIAN WALK.
