A Bunch of Hypocrites

You often hear atheists or past disgruntled members of the church use the excuse for their unwillingness to attend meetings as, “the church is just a bunch of hypocrites”. Such thinking lacks reason and maturity. Yes, at times Christians can be hypocritical. But not everyone and not all the time. Many Christians are acutely aware of their imperfections and are striving to learn and grow. For this reason, they can also be the most compassionate and gracious people to be around. So such claims lack truth and due thought.A good way to respond to such statements is to ask questions. Some good questions to ask include: Are you suggesting that every Christian is a hypocrite? If not, what percentage of Christians are we talking about? This calls them out for lack of nuance and generalities. Also, even if what you say is true, if God is real, what difference does that make?” We need to be obedient to God no matter what others are doing. Finally, “if there were no hypocrites in the church, would you come and be a part of it?” This starts the conversation towards the real issue of why they don’t want to become a Christian or be a part of the church.If hypocrisy was the real reason, then they would have to live in isolation because many hypocrites exist outside of the church as well. In fact, the person making the claim might just be one themselves. Even so, one of the best ways to respond isn’t with anger but with appropriate questions that can get them to think more deeply about their unreasonable claim.