Hypocrites, Part 1

A friend of mine recently left the professional ministry explaining that he could no longer teach people what he was not experiencing himself. Had he been a hypocrite the past 15 years of his ministry? He believes that he has been. I’m not so sure.
As I listened to this broken friend I began to pray that God would give me a response that might give him hope. I told him that all teachers’ experience falls short of the truths they proclaim. I teach men to love their wives -- I am still frequently nettled by Cathy’s small failings. I teach people to trust God in their troubles -- but I still too often try to solve my problems without consulting God. I instruct people to give thanks in all things -- but I still complain when we have had several weeks of unseasonably cold weather. Do these failings make me a hypocrite? No. They make me a sinner. God is working in my life and I am moving toward the truths that I proclaim. I am a hypocrite only if I try to cover up the disparity between my life and my teaching.