From time to time I hear people saying that they are not Christian because they believe all Christians are hypocrites.  How much research they have done on the matter is of course open for debate, but because they have seen a Christian neighbor kick their dog or yell at their children, they eagerly dismiss the whole business.  I suppose if all Christians were like St. Francis they might reconsider their positions, but on closer inspection I am not sure that this criticism carries quite as much weight as the accusers believe it does.  For it is my belief that hypocrisy is an overrated indiscretion.  It is not that I believe it to be good to be hypocritical it is just that it only displays a moral failing in an individual not in a whole system.  For if you think about it, it is quite easy not to be a hypocrite - simply do not have any standards.  When someone is accused of being a hypocrite it at least implies that they have fallen short of some standard, and hopefully that standard is a virtuous one  (as being a non-hypocritical cannibal should not be seen as a goal for which we should strive).  But being a hypocrite is something that, if we are honest, we must know that as a Christian we are going to be at times.  For as St. Paul says in Romans 3:23 "We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."   

                As we go through life we will often find that we do not always live the life that God has called us to live and the answer is not to give up, but ask God to give us the strength that we may be able to endure the next time.  As the cliché says life is a journey.

                A way to think about it is like this let's say you were a gifted pianist and you were given Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto to play for the first time.  Now you of course know that it should be played well, with the appropriate notes being struck, the proper tempo being used and the appropriate volume used in given parts of the piece.  But the first time you play it, you will not get everything right.  You may miss notes you may rush through a part that should be played more slowly or you may play some bits forte that call for piano.  Now does this make you a hypocrite?  After all you are doing something in a way that you know you should not do it.  Well it would make you fall short of your goals, but the important thing is not to stop after the first botched attempt.  You get on striving to play the piece the way it was meant to be played.

                And this is the same with our lives.  We will struggle.  We will be like St. Paul in Romans when he says, "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."  This does not mean we give up.  Just as the pianist who struggles with Rachmaninoff cannot say, "Well it was a stupid piece anyway." We cannot say that sins are something about which we should not care.  As we go through life we must realize that we are going to be hypocrites.  We are going to miss the mark, but we must not cease in our efforts to live as God calls us to live.  So while I think hypocrisy may be overrated our goal should always be to live as ones with integrity striving, and calling upon God to aid us in growing into his likeness. 

+Fr. Philip