Spray-On Mud
A British company has developed a product called "Spray-On Mud" so city dwellers can give their expensive 4x4 vehicles the appearance of having been off-road for a day of hunting or fishing without ever leaving town. The mud is even filtered to remove stones and debris that might scratch the paint. According to the company, sales are going well.
The Gift Of Grace
A woman told me that when she was growing up, the kids next door weren’t allowed to play with her because she didn’t go to church. Later, when she became a Christian and told her mother, her mom replied, “You’re not going to start acting like you’re better than all of us, are you?” That mom got the wrong impression of Christians from her neighbors.
Careless Preachers
Some opponents of Christianity may not be so much against Christ as they are against the hypocrisy of His followers. Ironically, it hasn't occurred to them that no one was more opposed to hypocrisy than Jesus Himself.
Speak And Do
In ancient Greek dramas, a person behind a curtain spoke the lines while the performer on stage acted out the role. We might refer to the speaker behind the scenes as one who didn't "practice what he preached."
Counterfeit Reality
When people see a photograph or video today, they often ask, "Is it real?" A home computer can manipulate images to create a picture of an event that never happened. Images can be inserted into or removed from photographs. A video can be doctored to make it appear that a person was caught committing a crime or performing an act of heroism. The camera may not lie, but the computer can.
Hypocritical Request
A group of religious leaders asked Jesus to give them a "sign from heaven" (Matthew 16:1). They had witnessed many of His miracles, but they had either minimized them or attributed them to Satan. The Pharisees were now demanding that Jesus perform another miracle—perhaps like Joshua who commanded the sun and moon to stand still (Joshua 10:12-14), or like Elijah who called down fire from heaven (1 Kings 18:30-40). They did this to test Jesus.
The Hypocrite Excuse
I have a neighbor who can't stand hypocrites. In fact, he tells me that he stopped going to church because he saw too many hypocrites there.
Careless Preachers
Some opponents of Christianity may not be so much against Jesus as they are against hypocrisy. Ironically, it hasn't occurred to them that no one was more opposed to hypocrisy than Christ Himself.
