What we ought to be

² May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall (2 Peter 1:2-10).

Perhaps the number one complaint against Christianity is "The church is full of hypocrites." On one hand, it's a nonsense complaint. The basic requirement to be a Christian is that I must agree that I'm a sinner beyond any capacity to save myself. In other words, the Church is made up of a bunch of self-professed losers. It would seem ridiculous to label us as hypocrites.

Still, the charge sticks to some degree. Having come into a relationship with Christ, having come to the truth, we often find ourselves acting as if we're better than we thought we were. As in all humans, we might say, "Such and such is evil" even though we might indulge in that ourselves. The Bible is abundantly clear, for instance, that sexual relations outside of marriage is sin. As it turns out, lots of Christians sin in that way. Still, we call it sin ... as if we're better than that. And this, in itself, perhaps isn't actually hypocrisy. It is possible to fail, recognize your failure, and still call it failure. That's not hypocritical.

No, the problem among too many Christians isn't so much that we call sin sin or that we sin ourselves. The problem is that we do not live what we say we believe. We tout that God is sovereign and then try to seize power through politics. We preach "peace that passes understanding" and worry ourselves to death. We far too often shout "Joy!" and live morose lives. Most condemning of all, of course, is that we far too often lack that single hallmark of disciples of Christ that Jesus called us to -- love (John 13:35).

Why is that? Why is it that Christians are better known for their condemning of Democrats or their assault on homosexual behavior or their stand on abortion than their love? Why is it that we aren't marked as a community that loves one another? In Acts 2, the first church made a name for itself. They "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people" (Acts 2:42-47). These believers devoted themselves to God, to the Word, and to each other. The result was "favor with all the people." That is not the Church we see today, at least here in America.

Now, I know that "favor with all the people" is not the goal, nor is it my point. But it says something about believers when we seem to largely lack the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). It says something about Christians when we do not demonstrate in our lives that by which all people would know that we are Christ's disciples (John 13:35). Peter said "Whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." In Peter's view, it was possible to deceive yourself into believing you are one of the elect. The only way to be sure, he warned, was to have increasing qualities of faith, steadfastness, godliness, love for the brethren, and love for God and others. In Peter's (God-breathed) view, then, if we lack these qualities, the best that can be said about us is that we are blind ... and the worst is that we are not genuine believers.

What does it say about us when we lack these things? I suppose there are various answers to that question besides Peter's suggestions ... but none of them are good. Perhaps, while we pursue comfort and well-being in our day-to-day world, we should pursue the more important things. You know ... those things we claim to be of utmost importance. After all, you always act on what you truly believe. I'm afraid that sometimes that reflects badly on me.