Sometimes I feel like I have sinned so much that God won't accept me and that it would be hypocritical to be in church.

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Question: Sometimes I feel like I have sinned so much that God won't accept me and that it would be hypocritical to be in church. How can I go to church when I am living in a way that I know God does not approve of?

ATP: This is a feeling that many have when they have stumbled in life and fallen into serious sin, or have simply become numb to spiritual things.

The truth is that God knows what we have done.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the book of Genesis, one of the first things they did was hide from God. When God said to Adam, "Where are you?" it wasn't so God could find out where Adam was. God already knew. It was Adam who needed to face up to their broken relationship.

It is natural to feel a separation from God when we sin. That guilt and separation is the result of sin.

But the message of the Bible from beginning to end is one of a loving God who forgives when we repent.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in God's mercy through Him, our sins are forgiven and our relationship with God is restored. Never forget that God loves you. Never forget that the Church is not the assembly of perfect people, but rather is the assembly of broken people in the process of being made whole by a loving God.

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

If you have sinned...and you have, because we all have...Church is exactly where you need to be and it's where the Lord wants you to be. He already knows about your sin, so staying away from church to avoid appearing to be a hypocrite isn't a solution.

You are already a sinner! Avoiding the appearance or reality of being a hypocrite won't change that.

To be honest, those who want to avoid "hypocrisy" and who say, "At least I'm not a hypocrite like those people that do go to church. I've seen how they are living, and at least I'm honest about how I live..." have another problem. It's a worse one that hypocrisy.

It's called pride.

This isn't the situation that you have described in your question, so this last comment is not directed toward you.

But there may be others who read this who are proud of their lack of hypocrisy, using it as an excuse. They need to know that God isn't fooled.