2005/09/19

Hypocrites, Part 3

How, then, do I know if I am a hypocrite? There are three questions that I ask myself to determine whether I live for man’s approval or God’s approval. First question: How hard is it for me to say “no”? If pleasing people is paramount, I will agonize over every “no” and probably say “yes” to far too many requests. But if I am concerned first about pleasing God, I will be able to risk others’ disappointment: “Sorry, I can’t help out with the youth group. I’m committed to teaching adults how to study the Bible.”
Furthermore, I ask: How do I respond when I am criticized? In a recent class one student’s evaluation stated: “If someone held an opposing viewpoint, Bernie sort of ran roughshod over the argument and moved on.” But another student gushed: “Bernie’s openness for people to speak their own thoughts and beliefs really brought the class together. I loved this class; great learning experience and non-judgmental.” (Can you believe these comments were from two students who took the same class?!) If the condemning comments of that disgruntled student get under my skin and stay there like a bad case of chiggers, it may tell me that the opinions of others’ are too important -- and make it difficult to proclaim the prickly parts of the Bible.
Finally, I ask: how do I respond when my failures become evident to others? Do I labor to explain and justify my behavior? Do I blame others for my sins? “Well, sure I was snippy with you. But you had been hassling me all afternoon.”

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