It’s been a Robert Duvall movie-thon around here. In the last week or two we’ve watched Tender Mercies (one of my favorites), Open Range (one of the hub’s favorites), Bullit (he played the cab driver), Days of Thunder, Second Hand Lions and The Apostle.
Have you seen The Apostle?
Saint
In the opening scene Duvall’s character – Sonny – comes upon a crash, sticks his head through the car window and offers comfort and salvation to the badly injured couple inside.
We see him lead revivals.
We see the love his church has for him.
Sinner
As we get to know him we wonder whether he’s a little nuts.
We learn his eye wanders while he’s on the road.
We see his wife also stray, while he’s away.
We cover our eyes as he commits a brutal crime of passion.
Redemption
He flees, starts a new life in a new place, becomes beloved by a new community and eventually must pay his debt.
Saint and sinner all rolled into one.
Faith and flesh.
I woke up the other morning to a big ol’ “Hypocrite” emblazoned on my Facebook wall.
Not quite sure why except that I stuck up for God and for Christians and for Republicans the day before.
The unredeemed throw “hypocrite” like a ninja star.
It’s supposed to slay us, shut us up, send us cowering.
But the weapon fails.
We shrug.
They think we think we’re perfect.
We don’t.
We’re saints and sinners. Faith battling flesh.
I’m not sure what Johnny’s song has to do with anything, but it’s in my head so there it is.
Dinner date with the hub tonight.
“No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 54:17
Light & life 
What did you post that you were called a hypocrite? Sad state of affairs. Enjoy your date tonight!
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Thank you, I did. With regard to your question, let me think about how to answer it.
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You don’t have to. Partly curiosity and partly rhetorical. :>)
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I’ll tell you. Someone on FB made an angry post accusing our president-elect of a whole litany of presidential evil, before the man has even taken office. She blamed Christians (and Republicans in the same breath) for ushering in this alleged evil “in the name of Jesus.”
The tone of the post was ugly, her contempt for God apparent.
So I simply asked her in whose name she was making her accusatory, divisive remarks.
In hindsight I should have just let her have her rant. But, dang it, she brought Jesus into it.
The hub guesses the big old “hypocrite” (posted by someone who piled on) was emblazoned because Christians are supposed to be doormats and that day I wasn’t.
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I tell you that there is a lot of raw emotion out there on this. I even got yelled at by a family member for suggesting that God ordained it. Romans 13:1. These are the times.
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I think it’s best to just give people time to simmer down.
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I think you did the right thing. Our culture gets its nose out of joint far too easily.
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