Those Hypocrites!

     I know there are some scoffers out there who think the church is full of hypocrites and you don't want to be around them. Unfortunately, it is true; there are hypocrites in church. But you go to work with them. You go to sporting events with them. You go to the grocery store with them. They are everywhere, not just in church. Why would you let a phony keep you away from God? They will have to answer to God for their falsehood. But if they don't go to church, if they don't hear the truth of God's word, how will they ever change? Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
     I use the word saints loosely. The Catholic church deems people saints who have done an enormous amount of good for poor people or who have lived an exemplary life according to the Catholic faith. The Bible says all true believers in Christ, those who have repented (asked forgiveness for AND turned away from) of their sins are saints. It doesn't mean we are perfect or holier than everyone else.
     I saw a bumper sticker once that I liked very much. It said, "Christians aren't perfect, just He created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. When Christ died on the cross for us, He paid the penalty for all of our sins. But His forgiveness is only available when we repent and ask for that forgiveness. Once we have told Him we are sorry for our sins, and ask Him to forgive us, the Bible says He cleanses us from all our sin.
     That doesn't mean we never sin again. We are stuck with our humanness and are continually battling our tempers, our tongue (the things we say), the things in this world that tempt us to do things contrary to God's will. We will battle them until the day we die. But as we learn to ask God the Holy Spirit to help us ot to give in to those temptations, we become stronger against them, and little by little we do fewer of those things. It is a process. Sometimes it's painful, but God is always with us.
     Monday I will explain what some our Christian terms mean to help those who are confused about all of this "religion."  God bless.
                         Aleta Kay