8. You Are All Hypocrites!

Christian apologists offer reasons that substantiate the faith. But sometimes Christians are the reason people find the Christian message implausible? One reason people object to Christianity is their sense—accurate or not—that the gospel doesn't make people better and, in fact, seems to make some people worse.

Church history is filled with examples of professing Christians behaving badly. And it is no different today. People who bear the name of brother (1 Cor. 5:11) commit the works of the flesh: sexual immorality, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, drunkenness (Gal. 5:19–21); sometimes on a horrific scale. Sometimes from positions of leadership in the church. It doesn't take much imagination to hear unbelievers say about people you know, "If that's how a Christian lives no thanks. Perhaps it has been said about us.

So how can apologists answer the charge of hypocrisy?