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.
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