Thinking way back, some twenty six years or so, I remember clearly the view I had of those who called themselves Christians. In the Communist Romania they were called by a distinctive name, identifying them not just as Christians but as a different class of people entirely. Those who did not belong to the traditional Orthodox, Catholic, Roman-Catholic or Hungarian Reformed churches were identified as "Pocăiți," a word which translated in English means Repenters, or "Those who have repented." The funny thing is that they didn't mind it at all because that very term expressed the fact that, unlike the traditional Christians belonging to the Orthodox, Catholic, Roman-Catholic or Hungarian Reformed, they WALKED THE TALK.

After my arrival in USA I learned that here the term "Born Again Christian" was used to designate those who WALKED THE TALK. Fast forward a few years with me to the moment I realized that none of those Repenters, or Born Again Christians, were indeed perfect, nor were they completely WALKING THE TALK. That was also the time when I learned to apply a different word to all of these people: HYPOCRITE which in Romanian is very similar; HIPOCRIT from the ancient Greek word υποκριτης (ypokritís) which means actor, a person who pretends to be someone else than he or she is in truth. I applied this word liberally and generally to this category of people who to me seemed to pretend to be "holier than thou" but in truth were at times worse than some of the faithless people I knew.

Now fast forward with me to today. I've been one of the "hypocrites" for twenty years, experiencing the universal church in different cultures and religious groups. I found my vocation in ministry and day in and day out I try to listen to God's direction while serving and doing my best to be a blessing to His people. What TALK am I WALKING these days? As I stepped into the pulpit ministry of the Troy Church I found myself TALKING a whole lot :) actually just about every Sunday if you ever care to come and listen or click on one of my sermons right here on troychurch.net.

Many times as I prepare my sermons, as I research a subject and as I lay down and meditate asking God to reveal His will to me, to bless me with understanding, I find that there are things which are not yet a part of my spiritual WALK and yet they are profound truths. I wrestle than with my own self to whether or not voice them from the pulpit. Will the congregation understand that particular TALK to be my WALK? Should I TALK about something I have not WALKED but am being convinced is the truth that God has convicted me of or should I be silent out of fear to not be a HYPOCRITE? What are your thoughts?