Romans 2:17-24

"(17) Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; (18)if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; (19) if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, (20) an instructor of the foolish, a teachers of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowldge and truth -(21) you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? (22) You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? (23) You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? (24) As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.""

It may seem like we can disregard this set of verses because Paul is talking to Jews, but there is an important lesson here. Paul is talking to the religious elite of his day, the Jews. If we were going to make a comparison to today, Paul would be talking to Christians. Both groups, ancient Jews and modern Christians, know who God is and they know what the laws are. Paul talks about how outwardly these two groups of people may know the law and teach it to others or use it to look down at others, but they don't apply the laws to themselves. Paul suggests that maybe one should start with themselves and their law-following abilities before they try to instruct others on the law. Here's an example: Before you instruct others on tithing, maybe you should be tithing yourself.

I think verse 24 tells modern Christians exactly why we need to apply the law to ourselves before we instruct others - if a Christian is viewed as a hypocrite, then God's name will be slandered by non-Christians. Example: Pretty much all of chapter 2 of Romans talks about not judging people because only God can judge us. Not too long ago Pat Robertson made some pretty judgmental comments about Haiti and many saw those comments as being hypocritical. God's word says not to judge so I'm sure some people saw Pat Robertson as a hypocrite and decided that they didn't want to worship the God of a hypocrite. Now Pat Robertson has done a lot of great and godly things in his life, but this is a simple example of how actions and words can cause people to turn away from God. I ask God every day to make my actions reflect Him and his Word. I fail. One thing Paul has been clear about is that we all fail, but there are so many people making an effort. Are you?