So many believers openly tell others that they are a Christian. That’s wonderful, but is it just me, or do you get offended with someone talking the talk, but not walking the walk? You may be thinking I’m being judgmental, but my reason for writing on this subject is because I am preaching to this choir of one (me).
Jesus showed us how to live like Him. But we (the collective “we,” me included) so many times put on our ‘Christian masks’ on Sunday mornings and then forget about living like a Christian the rest of the week. What am I talking about? Well, some of us believe that we can do whatever we want to during the week and into the weekend, acting a fool if that’s what makes us happy- as long as we’re dressed nicely and in church on Sunday morning, looking the part. Once church is over, we’re ‘free’ and we can bust out of there, going right back to living with wrong attitudes and wrong hearts.
But it’s a long road from our hearts to our mouths and our actions. So often we commit to daily prayer and bible study, we commit to church and ministry, but somewhere along that long road, we don’t pray, we don’t study, and we don’t show up. That’s sad. It reminds me of a story I read :
The devil called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, “We can’t keep Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their savior. But once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so they don’t have time to develop a real relationship with Jesus Christ. “This is what I want you to do”, said the devil. “Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day! “How shall we do this?” his demons shouted. “Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” the devil answered.
We all get busy. But to be Christ-like, we have to have boundaries. Jesus, the Son of God, repeatedly left the multitude to be alone with His Father. This is a lesson that’s especially hard for me, a type-A personality, to swallow and to follow.
Our hearts affect our mouths and actions. We are each being watched and scrutinized by believers as well as unbelievers. So let your life match your lip. When you feel yourself starting to slip- thinking things and/or wanting to say or do things you know you shouldn’t, remember this:
“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” C.S. Lewis
