“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Mark 7:6).
One of the great hindrances to modern day revival may be hypocrisy among Christians. This is not a garden-variety hypocrisy which knowingly proposes something they do not believe to be true. It is not claiming to favor chicken, but actually preferring beef. A conviction must be something more than acknowledging something is true. It must be more than the rehearsed answers to predictable questions that fail to be carried out in our lives. To be outspoken against sin because we are expected to be outspoken against sin does not prove that our conscience is grieved at the presence of sin.
Many Christians do not actually live in the construction of convictions which they describe to others. Just as being married affects the nature of every other relationship in our lives, so must Christ shape every other relationship we enjoy. Does Christ come up in our conversation as easily as any friend or relation? Is it as normal and comfortable to talk about Him and His Word as it is to talk about the weather or our hobbies? Do we live in the doctrinal house that we describe to others? Is this where we really do our thinking and our feeling, or is it just the place we drive people by to show them? Is God’s Word where I quench my thirst and find satisfaction for the hunger of my faith, intellect, and emotion, or do I just carry a leather framed picture of a well with me to church on Sunday? Do I feel my hand conforming to the shape of the Sword’s handle as I work and wield it through the fatigue of preparation and the fervor of battles, or am I just repeating the tales of grandpa‘s exploits in the spiritual battles of by-gone generations.
God’s Word must not run parallel with real life; it must intersect with it. We must be genuine if we are to see revival in our day.
