"I just want to see what kind of hypocrite I'm dealing with", said the atheist, having thoroughly derailed the original conversation about abortion, and instead wanting to know how many of my possessions I've sold to feed the poor. According to him, Jesus commanded this, and so the fact that I'm not sleeping naked in a cardboard box in some dark alleyway means I'm not following my faith. Or, as he put it, "...Jesus calls you to live a far more radical existence than you’d prefer, so you cherry pick!"
The first and most obvious flaw in his line of reasoning is that, first of all, hypocrisy is irrelevant to truth. Before they even reach high school, every child knows "two wrongs don't make a right", because they have reached the stage in their lives when they have attempted to justify their wrongs by pointing out a previous wrong committed by someone else, and been rebuked for it by an adult. It seems to me the one and only time people suspend this logic is in politics and religion.
The irony in this case is that this particular atheist, and indeed other atheists following his reasoning, are asking me to be a hypocrite. This guy isn't saying "I wish you'd sell your possessions and feed the poor", he's saying "I wish you'd stand idly by while millions of innocent babies are slaughtered in the name of reproductive autonomy". In other words, he's not saying "be more charitable, because your faith says to be", he's saying "be more depraved, because your faith is too difficult for you".
One thing that makes this particular argument difficult to respond to is that I can't actually "win" either way. If I come out and say "well actually, I do this, that, and the other", I'm breaking Christ's command to do good deeds in secret, not openly, as the hypocrites. But if I follow that command, I appear to justify the atheist's charges.
The simplest solution to this is to simply say that yes, I do take my faith seriously enough that I engage in some form of charity. For all you know, that could be as simple as dropping loose change in a collection pot, or it could be as radical as actually visiting people in prison, building homeless shelters, or opening my home to a refugee. If you're not partnering with me in my charity work, you don't need to know, and you don't get to know; it's between me and God. He will judge me with full and perfect knowledge, you will judge me with absolutely none.
But while I can say my conscience is quite clear on the charity issue, certainly more so than a barely literate 12 year old who has never seen my face would like you to believe, I can say that all people are hypocrites, and therefore all Christians are hypocrites. I can say, with complete confidence, that "...the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth..." (Genesis 8:21), and so yes, I am a hypocrite. I believe in a perfect and Holy God who is worthy of nothing less than my full devotion. But I can't say I'm sinless. I preach against sins I have committed, I preach good deeds I've failed to perform.
So really, the only sensible thing this atheist ever said is "I just want to see what kind of hypocrite I'm dealing with". Every person is a hypocrite, but not all hypocrisy is the same. There are two kinds of hypocrites: The kind who fails to live up to their beliefs, and the kind who lives like they don't believe.
As a Christian, I fall into the former category. I treat sin "...like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8). Fight or flight is not always successful, but is always necessary. A lion may catch its prey, but its prey will seek to escape.
In the same way, I try to live up to my faith, but I will often fail. As Paul says, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7:15-20).
That is how we, as Christians, are to see sin, and with that, I am perfectly consistent. But the atheist falls into the latter category. Do you remember what I said the original conversation was about? It was about abortion. In particular, the atheist was responding to my comment on a video, in which I said "It’s always amusing to me when people bring up other faiths. Like, are they right? You don’t believe their faith, why cherry pick what parts you like? Tell me why YOU think abortion is ok, I’ll show you why it isn’t."
Did the atheist offer a single defence of abortion? Not one. This atheist jumped in on my conversations with several other abortion advocates, and yet not one of his comments actually presented a positive case for abortion. Without fail, all of his comments were either some futile comment about how there is "no factual proof" of God, or some out of context Bible quote that has nothing to do with the topic, all in some vain attempt to charge me with hypocrisy. In other words, this atheist believes so little in abortion that he would rather talk about literally anything else. He cannot defend his view, and so he must attack my character.
And personally, I'm ok with such ridiculous character assassinations. As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather be an uncharitable hypocrite than a consistent, bloodthirsty murderer. This man would rather not defend abortion because it takes a literal psychopath to know what abortion is and still defend it. The pro-life position is so obviously the correct one that all it takes to turn an abortionist into a pro-lifer is a 2 minute educational video demonstrating how it works. That's why abortionists have to rely on deception. They deceive the public to keep abortion legal, they deceive mothers to convince them to abort, they deceive themselves. No one wants to defend abortion, because it is indefensible.
See, God has given us a conscience. Although the Bible helps, you do not actually need direct contact with Scripture, nor even special revelation from God, to know there is a difference between right and wrong. Atheists even brag about this when they respond to the moral argument. "I don't need God to tell me what's right and wrong". You're right, you don't. You need Him to justify the very existence of right and wrong, but He has already adequately supplied you with everything you'll ever need to "...by nature do the things in the law..." (Romans 2:14).
This, of course, does not extend only to abortion. We all understand the concept of right and wrong, knowing people are accountable to a higher standard than, for example, a monkey. But how many of us have lived morally upright lives, even by our own standards? You might say "me! I have!" But examine yourself a little closer. Look at this atheist hypocrite. He claims to believe abortion is ok, yet he is so unwilling to defend it, he justifies it by instead attacking Christian consistency. He knows, at least subconsciously, that abortion is evil, yet he boasts in his moral superiority. Now ask, is there anything you know is wrong, yet you have done anyway?
Perhaps, in blindness, you still believe you pass your own standard. You won't pass God's. In fact, God tells us all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Thus, by our own steam, all of us stand condemned before the divine throne. It is too little too late to try to argue your own way out of Hell, much less into Heaven.
But praise be to God, we don't have to! He has given us a glorious alternative. One man did live a perfect life, free of hypocrisy, or any kind of sin. That man was Jesus, the Son of God. Not once did He fall short of God's Holy standard. Not once did He sin, deserving death. Rather, He fulfilled all righteousness, even being baptised by John. Yet, He died. He was put through a bogus trial, brutally beaten, and nailed to a cross to suffocate. Suffering the full wrath of God for sin, Jesus made it possible for anyone and everyone who believes in Him to be forgiven for all sin. Lies, theft, murder, blasphemy, all of these sins are nailed to that cross for everyone who believes in Christ. Therefore, repent, and you will be saved.