The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Today there are many reasons why people don't come to church. If you asked someone on the street you could get any response from " I don't have time," to " There are too many hypocrites in the church."
As true as that may be, lets be realistic. Hypocrites are in every part of life, not just in the church. In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus tells a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. God is not fooled by hypocrisy, in fact he knows that it is going to be in the church. It talks about the enemy sowing "tares" or "weeds" among the wheat. Wheat and weeds look a lot alike at first, it is hard to tell the difference between the two. Apply this to people, we may not always be able to point out the hypocrite, and the only one who truly can see someone for who they are is Christ.
Here is the beauty of God's grace, in the parable the farmer allows the weed to grow with the wheat so that none of the good is uprooted. God allows people the ability to change and grow. As christians we are called to be christ-like, it is easy to point the finger at someone else and point out the bad, but the truth is one day every knee will bow before Jesus Christ. The difference between someone who is willing to give everything to God and live a life for him, they will like wheat bow before the maker. Those who chose to live in their sin will stand tall against the grain, against the maker just like weeds do. You can chose to bow now or later, the choice is yours. Time is given until the end, God doesn't want any to perish, let's not forget he waited for you!