What is hypocrisy?
A misconception about hypocritical advice is that it comes from someone who hasn’t always followed their advice themselves, but it is not that simple.
One problem that will arise as more people try to give Christian advice again is what constitutes hypocrisy. A misconception about hypocritical advice is that it comes from someone who hasn’t always followed their advice themselves, but it is not that simple. A person who experiences the problems associated with a certain kind of behavior can actually give some of the best warnings against it, even if they are periodically drawn into that behavior themselves.
These people may struggle with the problems they warn against from time to time because they are human themselves, but that does not mean that they should be called hypocrites for wanting to help others avoid the pitfalls they are also trying to avoid. It can also take a lot of courage for these people to give advice as well when they know they will be criticised themselves. In those cases, they are trying to help others at their own cost.
Real hypocrisy would come from someone, for example, who intentionally did what they scolded others about while not wanting to be criticized themselves. Real hypocrisy would also come from someone who secretly tried to get away with what they scolded others about while not really caring about what wrong they did themselves. A Christian who understands the difference will be able to turn from real hypocrisy while benefiting from the wisdom of those who try to help others learn from their own struggles.