“If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be
enough evidence to convict you?” Author unknown "Let your light so shine among men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I saw the above quotation on a church bulletin board a few years ago, and it has stuck with me. I don’t know who wrote it, but it gets to the core of the problem of Christian witness and behavior. It reminds me of the advertisements on medicines these days on television. Truth in advertising laws demands that they tell the side effects of the medicine they are advertising. By the time they list all of the side effects, I usually end up asking myself why in the world would I take that medicine if it could all of that to me? But it is best that we know the truth about it, and would I not want them to tell me the truth? We need truth in advertising in our lives as well. It is easy for one to say that he or she is a Christian. The words come so easily: “I am a Christian.” What do we mean by that? Do we realize that when we say that, people will certainly expect us to be different? I know that it is difficult to be different in today’s society. This has always been true. Peter wrote about this issue in 1 Peter 4:4: “Where in they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.” People don’t like it when we are different. Sometimes it is because they do not realize what the Christian life is all about. Sometimes it is because our being different makes them feel guilty. But the demand is to be different. We need to pay attention to kingdom righteousness. Kingdom righteousness has to do with how live our lives in private or in front of people. It also has to do with how we relate to other people, and how we treat other people. Some of the poorest advertising that we do is how we sometimes treat each other in churches. After all, Jesus told us that the world would know we are Christians by our love for each other. There are certainly times when we should rise up in righteous indignation when our faith is belittled and smeared. But we should remember at the same time to let people know what we are for as much as what we are against. We are against sin but we are for loving the sinner. We are against what the Bible calls “riotous living,” but we are for helping people come out of those lifestyles. We want to stay away from sin, but, like Jesus, we need to witness and minister to people who are lost in sin. I ask again: “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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