There once was a hippo who lived in the jungle. Harry the hippo had lived in the jungle for a long time. Not as long as some, but longer than others. Since he had spent so much time in the jungle, Harry was fond of telling all the other animals how to get the most out of the jungle.
He would tell the crocodiles the best places to skim across the river.
He would tell the monkeys the best way to pick bugs out of each other’s fur.
He would tell the elephants how to get the most out of bathing in the cove.
Harry was always giving out advice and sometimes the other animals would take it and other times they wouldn’t. Unfortunately, one of the animals that ignored Harry’s advice was Harry himself.
Harry really had some good advice that would have made life better in the jungle. Instead of listening to his own advice, though, Harry often did the opposite. He knew how to make life better in the jungle, but he didn’t put that knowledge into action.
Harry the hippo was a hypocrite.
I may not be a large, water-dwelling herbivore, but I unfortunately have a lot in common with Harry the hippo.
Like Harry, I use The Christian Nerd to dispense some advice that I think would make life better. I’m not the oldest person in the world, but I’ve been following Jesus for a while. I went to seminary and spent eight years working as a pastor. I’ve got some good advice for how to best live our lives with God, but I don’t always take my own advice.
Take Tuesday’s post for example. I wrote about how we can keep our focus on God even in the middle of a busy week. That was a good post with great advice for maintaining a strong foundation by making time for spiritual disciplines regardless of how much we have going on.
Since writing that post and giving that advice, I have spent zero time with God. I mean I’ve listened to the bible story at VBS, but I’m at a point in my life where I need a little more. My spiritual growth and development requires more than short memory verses and pithy cheers.
As much as I hate to admit it, like Henry the hippo, I’m a hypocrite.
Admitting that I’m a hypocrite doesn’t excuse my lack of time spent with God. It doesn’t even make me feel better. I could give a litany of excuses as to why I haven’t spent any time with God, but that’s all they would be: excuses. I don’t really even know why I’m telling you all that I am a hypocrite. Maybe I’d just rather be compared to a hippo than a whitewashed tomb.
As followers of Jesus, how honest should we be about our hypocrisy?
Leave a Comment