Solutions February 2018 | Page 22

If J By Randy Newman It’s been over a decade since I first wrote Questioning Evangelism, which included a chapter with the same title as this article. It was the most difficult chapter of the book for me to write (with the possible exception of the chapter on compassion that I gave the provocative subtitle: “What if I don’t care that my neighbor is going to hell?”). Christians have always faced the charge of being called hypocrites. But it seems that the accusation is increasing in both its frequency and its intensity in recent days. Sadly, there has always been some basis for the complaint by non-Christians. There are hypocrites in the church, and they do give the gospel bad press. And their number does not appear to be dwindling. So, the challenge for Christians remains: How do we respond when people ask, “Why are there so many hypocrites in the church?” What do we say if they use more why are some of His followers such JERKS? 22 Solutions