Skip to main content

New Article: The Necessity of Being Real

 

               When little kids come to your door on Halloween night, you know they are pretending to be something they are not.  You do not expect that the ten-year-old dressed as a mechanic will change the oil in your car.  You can be fairly certain that the pirate on your porch will not force his way in and plunder all your jewellery.  There are times when pretending is not only fine but expected.

               On the other hand, sometimes it matters that you do more than just look the part.  If you are going for surgery, the minimum expectation is that your doctor attended medical school.  If you are getting on an airplane, it is nice to know that the pilot has flown a plane before.  In these cases, owning a stethoscope or a fancy pilot’s suit is not enough.  Sometimes it matters that you are who you say you are. 

               That is the point in Ephesians chapters four and five.  Paul tells his readers that if they are going to live the Christian life, some real changes are required.  Specifically, he says, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self… and to put on your new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

               A partial list of what we are to put off would include falsehood, anger, stealing, slander, and bitterness.  We are to put on things like kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and love (see Ephesians 4:25-5:8 for the complete list).  These qualities are important, not because we are trying to earn anything (see Ephesians 2:8-9), but because we want to respond to God’s grace and represent him well.  People expect Christians to be real.

               Too often I have heard people say, “I would be a Christian, but I knew a guy who went to church, and he was one of the meanest people I ever knew”.  While we will never be perfect, we should at least be sincere.  People ought to see Christ living in us and, when they do not, we need to be ready to apologize and do better.

               When the outcome does not matter, it is ok to pretend.  However, if the issue is important, it is essential to be who you claim to be.

               Our real faith must change us in real ways.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Twenty-three Descriptions of God (Psalm 145)

  Let’s play a quick game.  Take 10 seconds and list 5 or 6 words to describe God.  Got your words?  Good!   Here comes the game part.  I will list twenty-three ways that David describes God in Psalm 145, and we will see how many of his words match yours.   David says that God is, the king, great, majestic, wonderful, powerful, awesome, abundant in goodness, righteous, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, good to all, glorious, mighty, trustworthy, faithful, supporting, generous, providing, near, saving and watching.     How did you do? This is not a useless exercise.  The words we use to describe God not only indicate something about how we see him, but they also influence how we interact with him.  For example, if I know that God is “Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (verse 8), I will not fear him, and I will not assume that he is against me.  When I remember that...
Post a Comment
Read more