We have all heard or read of someone dashing a relationship, career, reputation, or testimony on the rocks due to some inexplicable behavior during the – what-were-you-thinking moments? There is a system failure (willful sin) that causes us to go into a tailspin and experience a spiritual free fall toward disaster. There is in every choice that we make the potential to add value to our lives and to others or to take away value through unsound choices.
We all know; if you put someone under a microscope, imperfections are going to surface! We have all been marred by sin. Using the microscope is exactly how the world looks at Christianity. The world places a believer or a Christian organization under the magnification of their scope (worldview), looking for any evidence of inconsistencies. Maybe they are simply attempting to prove that we are not so lily white after all, and they are not so bad in order to justify their lifestyle? Whatever the reason, each person “of the world” who makes contact with us will examine closely our Christian testimony to see if we are the real deal or just another self-righteous hypocrite. Usually, the probing is not scalpel-free.
We can shout from the rooftops, “Evaluate the merits of Christianity by the life and works of Jesus Christ, not by me! He is the perfect Christian; I’m not. He’s the role model; I’m just a follower. He is holy; I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”
All of that is true,
but to the world, the validity of Christianity rests squarely upon our shoulders (We are ambassadors for Christ.)! Someone
has rightly observed that we are the only Christ the world will ever see (cf.
Heb 12:14). This leads to the question if we are to be Christlike, what kind
of Christ are we portraying to the world, one that is biblically based (holy
and victorious) or some other kind (unholy and defeated)?
Even though we are challenged by our sin nature, the world system, and the devil in our efforts to be holy as God is holy, our testimony must maintain Christlikeness in the bad times as well as the good times. This is only possible through a yielded life empowered by the Holy Spirit of God (Gal 5:16, 22, 23, 25; Eph 5:18).
To be certain the unbeliever will still be held personally accountable to God for sin (1 Pet 4:5; Mt 12:36; Rev 20:12), however, any willful distortion of a biblical view of Christ by our lifestyle only lends support to deception, distraction, dismissal, and ultimately destruction to those without Christ, not to mention broken fellowship with God through our disobedience! Living in the Light (Mt 5:16; Php 2:15), not darkness, is our mission in the world. We need to be reminded that as believers we will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ; our eternal destiny is not at stake (Rom 8:1; Eph 2:8-9), but the attitudes and actions of our works from that faith will be evaluated and rewarded accordingly (2 Cor 5:10; 1 Cor 3:12-13, 14-15).
Does the world see us as uniquely different or more or less like them? Are we truly attracting others by the demonstration of our faith to inquire about the claims of Christianity or are we causing others to be tuned out and turned off by a vacillating faith that presents a false image of Christ? Truly, we are the only Christ the world will ever see before His return (cf. 1Jn 3:2, 3). Being the real deal is a big deal in the kingdom of God from the vantage points of revealing Christ through us to the world and personal accountability at the Bema Seat of Christ. Being Christlike is the greatest testimony we can give to the world (cf. Heb 13:20, 21)! What kind of Christ are you (1 Jn 2:6)? <><
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Even though we are challenged by our sin nature, the world system, and the devil in our efforts to be holy as God is holy, our testimony must maintain Christlikeness in the bad times as well as the good times. This is only possible through a yielded life empowered by the Holy Spirit of God (Gal 5:16, 22, 23, 25; Eph 5:18).
To be certain the unbeliever will still be held personally accountable to God for sin (1 Pet 4:5; Mt 12:36; Rev 20:12), however, any willful distortion of a biblical view of Christ by our lifestyle only lends support to deception, distraction, dismissal, and ultimately destruction to those without Christ, not to mention broken fellowship with God through our disobedience! Living in the Light (Mt 5:16; Php 2:15), not darkness, is our mission in the world. We need to be reminded that as believers we will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ; our eternal destiny is not at stake (Rom 8:1; Eph 2:8-9), but the attitudes and actions of our works from that faith will be evaluated and rewarded accordingly (2 Cor 5:10; 1 Cor 3:12-13, 14-15).
Does the world see us as uniquely different or more or less like them? Are we truly attracting others by the demonstration of our faith to inquire about the claims of Christianity or are we causing others to be tuned out and turned off by a vacillating faith that presents a false image of Christ? Truly, we are the only Christ the world will ever see before His return (cf. 1Jn 3:2, 3). Being the real deal is a big deal in the kingdom of God from the vantage points of revealing Christ through us to the world and personal accountability at the Bema Seat of Christ. Being Christlike is the greatest testimony we can give to the world (cf. Heb 13:20, 21)! What kind of Christ are you (1 Jn 2:6)? <><
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