Thursday, March 3, 2011

Fraudulent Identity?

Hey yall!!  wanted to say howdy and offer a few snacks for thought. Now mind you, this is not a "handful of goldfish" type of snack. It's a little lengthier than I usually post. This is more like an appetizer of fried cheese sticks at TGI Fridays....big portion, but really good! Make  a happy plate and read the whole blog. See you at the end!


I'd like to invite you to read a verse of Scripture if you'd be so patient:
         “And by this we knowthat we have come to know Him,
if we keep His commandments.
          Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his
commandments is a liar and the truth is not inhim, but whoever
          keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
By this we may know that we are in Him, whoever
         says he abides in Him ought to
                                               walk in the same way in which He walked.”  -John 2:3-6 
I don't know about you, but this verse intimidates me and reeeeally causes me to ask myself hard things about who I claim my identity to be.  Christian. In our rawest, truest form, are we real or are we truly convinced that we are real but only putting on the front of a true Godfollower?
The text you just read with me says that whoever abides in Him ought to walk in the way in which He walked. Does that not just make your head spin? Man it does mine. walking as Jesus the God-man walked!
Think about this with me now my blog friend: It is our duty according to 2 Corinthians 13 to check the sincerity of our walks: 
"But we pray to God
that you may not do wrong, not that we
may appear to have met the test,
but that you may
do what is right though we may seem to have failed."

Paul makes it clear in this text, he wants the people
to do what is right, but not for the sake of “appearing to have met the test”.

In other words, so many people who have attended church all their lives
have a tendency to believe they are Christians who have met the test but
really only do what is right in appearance, and usually only
when they are around other Christians who they think have
certain expectations of them.
 
Honestly, how many of you if your pastor offered margaritas in Sunday School would take and drink one? Not many. But how many of you would order one on a Friday night at Chili's?  I'm not about to get into a theological debate on the sin/not sin of drinking.  My point is to be real EVERYWHERE you are.  If you wouldn't turn it down in a restaurant, but you would turn it down from someone at church, you are putting on a front and “appearing to have met the test” in front of the ones who have expectations of you.

How many of us have our bibles at a small group in Sunday school in case we were called on, butdidn’t take them to work/school in case a conversation presented itself at the lunch table to share Christ? If you fall into that category, it is because you are working to meet the expectations of one group of people rather that working to fulfill the big picture… the great commission. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not a Christian, don’t misunderstand me, but it could be a challenge totake your walk more seriously.

So, all this said, and having examined yourself, can you really call yourself a Christian? I hope yes! There is nothing more awesome than the feeling of knowing that you are in a season of walking in rightstanding with Christ.  But, you may be wondering now if up to this point you've been nothingmore than an imitator camouflaged into the scenery of the true believers.  I'll leave you lastly with the words of a great man:
"Whatever you are, be a good one." -Abraham Lincoln

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