Practice that leads to impact...

As I have the opportunity to talk with people, one of the common comments that I hear about Christians is that they are hypocrites. And while in some cases, this claim is made without a true understanding as to what a hypocrite is and does, in many cases their claims are quite accurate.

But here is the question: What leads people to come to such a conclusion? What leads many people who would consider themselves far from God and skeptical of Christianity and the church to come to the place where they feel the church and Christianity is irrelevant and that those who attend church are hypocritical?

I believe that the answer to why people come to this conclusion can be found in the midst of a story that is recorded for us in a letter in the Bible called the Book of Ezra. In the midst of this story, we see a man named Ezra described for us in Ezra 7:10:

For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Notice that Ezra did not simply set his heart to study the Bible. And Ezra did not simply set his heart to teach and tell others about the Bible. Ezra also set his heart to practice what the Bible had to say.

You see, Ezra put into practice what he learned from the message and the teachings of the Bible. He did not simply settle for telling others what the Bible had to say for their situation. Instead, Ezra looked in the mirror and applied what the message and the teachings of the Bible had to say to his life. Ezra did not simply settle for reading the Bible. Instead Ezra allowed the Bible to read him.

And because Ezra practiced what he preached; because Ezra allowed the message and the teachings of the Bible to influence and change how he lived his life; Ezra was a man who was able to have tremendous influence and impact on the culture that he lived in. Ezra was able to speak into lives in a way that impacted others because he not only had a great deal of knowledge about the Bible. Ezra was able to speak into lives because he put into practice what the Bible taught in a way that could be caught as well as taught by others.

However, when we simply settle for reading the Bible instead of allowing the Bible to read us; when we simply settle for talking about what the Bible says instead of walking what the Bible says, we lose the ability to influence and impact those around us because our personal walk with God does not match our talk about God. The men and women that God has used throughout history to influence and impact our culture, however, do not simply settle for studying the Bible or teaching about the Bible. Instead the lives that God uses to influence and impact culture also put into practice the message and teachings of the Bible.

So are you content about studying and telling others about the message and teachings of the Bible, but not practicing what the Bible teaches in your own life? Or are you striving to practice the message and teachings of the Bible, so that it's message is caught as well as taught?