Nation riddled with hypocrisy

Looks can be deceiving.

At first blush, George W. Bush’s re-election seems to signal a return to traditional values, those more in line with the biblical morality this country was founded upon.

But if we dig just a little beneath the surface, we find that all is not as it appears.

Just ask the bean counters at ABC, FOX, CBS and NBC, who see no reason to tone down shows rife with sex and mayhem in the wake of a national election swayed by so-called values voters. They realize that genuine morality is better gauged by what we do in private, not in public.

And it seems many of the same people who cried out for moral conservatism in last month’s public election are also sitting on their couches to watch “Desperate Housewives,” “Will & Grace, “Wife Swap” and other mindless, immoral drivel.

The New York Times recently reported that not one of the four major broadcast networks has any plans to chase after voters who claimed moral values. Why? There’s no economic reason to do so.

Network executives pose a salient question: If it’s true that America’s election choices are a cry for stronger morals, then why are so many people staring wide-eyed at television’s sex-drenched, bullet-ridden programming?

We really don’t want to face the answer. But it’s unavoidable. What we say publicly and what we do privately often don’t agree. You do it and I do it. Jesus called that hypocrisy. It’s driving people away from mainline Christian churches in droves. And it is the main reason today’s supposed resurgence in moral conservatism is a bit of a sham.

To be a Christian, by definition, is to swim against the strong current of immorality in our culture. It is to shine the light of Christ in a sin-darkened world with a message of love, mercy, repentance and forgiveness. Personal duplicity muddies that message. And it seems wherever we aim the accusing finger, it points back at us.

The Apostle James tells us that “a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways” (James 1:8, KJV). That instability – moral uncertainty – is reflected even in mainstream Christianity. Clerics openly debate whether to ordain gay ministers, something expressly forbidden in the very Scriptures they purport to believe. Child abuse of unimaginable proportions has been carried out – then hidden – by organized religion.

Even abortion – the candy-coated murder of helpless children – is more frequently defended by liberal religious leaders. An Associated Press poll earlier this week reported that a majority of Americans want the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a landmark court decision protecting abortion rights. Conservative religious groundswell, indeed.

Is it any wonder churches are losing credibility?

There is hope for the double-minded, a clear route to the right path: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8)

A purified heart is one whose longings and ambitions don’t change with the audience. Integrity, quite simply, is who we are when no one else is looking. Do we really live what we say we believe?

King David understood this. Sure, he made mistakes – big ones like murder and adultery. But integrity and perfection are not synonymous. David repented of his sin and asked God for the strength and will to live a holy life. He realized the folly of pursuing righteousness publicly while allowing his private life to languish in sin. His turnabout bore fruit; David is later described in Scripture as a man after God’s own heart. David saw the doorway to public righteousness was in his own house: “I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar” (Psalm 101:2-3). As the king goes, so goes the kingdom.

I don’t know about you, but I need more of the resolve David expressed in my own heart and home. For me, more soul-searching and less politicking seems in order.

That doorway to restoring traditional biblical values in America has not moved an inch since David’s day. It is nowhere near the voting booth. It remains in our homes – right there, where no one else is watching. Are we striving privately to be the same Christians who go to the polls and fight for morality?

I pray someday those network executives will be pondering more wholesome programming, shows in which people wear more clothes, speak more decently and don’t embarrass unwitting family viewers. More than that, I pray one day we’ll give them a reason to do so.