Checking The Hypocrisy Scale

My daughter, Angelica, is into creating video recordings of 'rants' and posting them on YouTube and on her personal web site. I really get a kick out of watching her and listening to the topics of her rants. Her most recent rant was about annoying girls. On this one particular day, she was suffering a migraine. While waiting outside in the heat for a ride home from school, a group of girls were nearby, carrying on with laughter, at a higher decibel level than what my daughter's migraine could tolerate. She lashed out, with the ever so gracious, "Would you just shut up?"

Well, as you've already guessed, this provoked quite an exchange between my daughter and her new found friends. As her and I drove down the street, I shared with Angelica the concept of grace. "Honey, do you think maybe if you'd let them know you had a migraine and asked them nicely to lower the noise level, they might have responded to you with compassion?" The look on my daughter's face was one of, 'You really don't get us, Mom'. Angelica quickly reminded me that fourteen year old girls do not talk to each other that way.

I am not referencing any scripture here, and you'll see why.

At that very second, this great big, obnoxious pickup truck decided to squeeze into my lane, right outside my driver's door. He forced me to the other side of the lane, onto the shoulder of the road. Right in the middle of our conversation, I broke away with, "Look out, you jerk! Did you see what this jerk did?"

Deep breath...

Angelica busted out in laughter, and said, "You hypocrite! OMGosh, Mom, you-are-a-hypocrite! Did you just hear what you said? You're telling me about grace, and you turn around and called this guy a jerk. How is that any different?"

I tried justifying it, but she was absolutely correct. In the same breath, I spoke of grace and chose not to extend grace; only to extend slander. Not only did this reveal an error in my way of teaching my daughter about grace, but it spoke to my heart about keeping a watchful eye on the hypocrisy scale. How we are on the road, away from our bibles, and others, for that matter, should demonstrate acts of mercy and grace, at all times.

The guy in the truck never heard a word I said. My daughter, however, did hear and see my reaction. I have come before the Lord and repented for this. Now, I must talk to my daughter. I do not ever want her to view me as one of those 'annoying girls', and certainly not as a Christian who does not walk with Jesus.