Are you for real?

Is your form of Christianity the real thing or is it more like what is seen outside of the church? Don’t mistake my remark for an accusation, it is not, but there are many in the world who have a “form of Christianity but deny its power” which is why there are people who claim that there are hypocrites in the church.

There are many in the world, about two billion or so, that claim to be Christians but if we all were doing the things which Jesus commanded us to do (like love our neighbors as ourselves) the world would be very different from the way it is today. Evangelism by a quarter of the world would have a tremendous impact, especially if it did not involve bombs or killing in any way. How much good could be accomplished this way?

Here in America, some over-the-counter allergy medication has been changed so that you have to have a prescription for the “real” thing. The stuff that you buy OTC just doesn’t work like the real thing and that is what I am referencing about Christians here. Are you for real or are you a Christian in name only?

Being real about your faith and the hope that you have is necessary because fakes can be seen by all. Anyone who knows a real Christian, one that lives their faith every day whether they are at church or at home or at the grocery store, can tell the difference. Your friends can tell the difference too, because when you claim Christianity and don’t live it then it is evident that you are a hypocrite.

2 Timothy 3:5 mentions people who “look like they are religious but deny God’s power.” (It also says, “Avoid people like this.”) Being religious and appearing to be a Christian doesn’t cut it, just like putting on a uniform and giving the appearance of being a police person doesn’t cut it either (and is illegal). True, you won’t go to jail for impersonating a Christian, but if you try to get by with it for long enough you will pay a price.

What do I mean by “pay a price”? Your appearance to others and to the outside world of being a Christian my help your reputation, it may allow you to do many good things for people. But if your heart has not been changed by the presence of Jesus then when your time comes to meet God at the end of your life, then all of the things that you did and the time you spent in church will convict you before Him.

Why will it convict you at that point? Because if you have never asked Jesus into your heart and allowed Him to change you, then all of the truth that you have heard in church washed over you but never penetrated your heart. Like being baptized but not really being saved, you just got wet. I went through these motions a few times and it makes you feel good for a while, but if the commitment to follow Jesus is not present then it doesn’t last long. A Christian that has never accepted Jesus as their Savior is not a Christian. They were just present in church in body not soul and they occupied a seat. Some may even have been deacons or teachers in Sunday school.

I have even read about some pastors or bishops who had been filling their positions for many years and yet became convicted at some point of the emptiness in their life and their heart and finally came to the point of asking Jesus into their lives. It was at this point that their ministry truly became effective and real to them and to their congregations. It was hard for me to understand how someone that had been teaching from God’s word and performing the duties of a preacher and yet they had never really given their heart to Jesus!

Make sure for yourself and for those who come in contact with you, because they are watching you to see if you are for real. If you claim Christian ideals and beliefs then people are really going to watch and listen to every word and deed, to make sure that you are real. So make sure for your sake now and for eternity.

Have you walked away?

I have worked with and talked to many people who have told me that they walked away from a church because of something. Many people won’t tell what the “something” was that cause the problem, but I doubt that it was God Himself. After my divorce years ago, I heard a sermon that was essentially attacking people who were in my place and it hurt. I thought that in church and by those who attend church, we were supposed to be supported and prayed for when we experienced pain like that which comes in a divorce. I was proven wrong, so I did not go back for a long time.

This is how churches and congregations as well as individuals become broken and torn or pulled apart. There are hurt feelings and anger and later frustration, then the anger becomes deep and turns into something which won’t go away easily and it hinders our relationship with God.

Many people think that they will be able to worship Him just fine from home or at work or wherever they may be on Sunday morning and it is true that you can do this but what usually happens? We get started cooking breakfast and watching the morning show on Sunday morning, then the phone rings and we go to the mall. What happened? Life, family, television, shopping, fishing, hunting, kids can all get in the way of learning about your Savior.

There are many excuses that get used when people don’t want to come to church or maybe get back into church. If there ever was a part of your life that was involved in church then you have heard the message of Christ‘s sacrifice for your salvation. Have you accepted it into your life and your heart?

If you did accept Him as your Savior and then something or someone at your home church caused you to leave then there needs to be some forgiveness. It is something that we, as humans have a hard time doing but with Jesus in your life it is possible. Following His example we are supposed to be forgiving to those who have wronged us, no matter what the slight is or was.

We can’t do it with our own strength, but through Him we can. Just as Jesus told Peter, we are supposed to forgive seven times seventy or four hundred and ninety times. It is what our Lord commanded us to do, and yet we are not able to do it on our own.

We have to decide to revive our relationship with Jesus, regardless of the hurt we received from a church-member or a pastor in time past. Even if the one who may have hurt your feelings is a family member, your relationship with Jesus is more important than this. If you have left the church or your relationship with Jesus by not attending church you are only hurting yourself.

When we are in a right relationship with Jesus and following Him daily, we should celebrate and worship with other saints at a church. Regardless of the denomination, worship is the key because of the sacrifice of our Lord and because He is worthy of our praise!

The Living Word, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ and the Messiah came to be the way that we have to get into heaven, all that we need to do is to ask Him into our hearts or re-establish the relationship that has been on hold. If you have put Jesus on hold, He is still waiting. He never hung up, He has never nor will He leave you.

Do you see the love of Christ at your church?

In our world and our culture, the love that we are commanded to show to one another seems to be in short supply…even in church. So what are we to do? Well, the first thing that you can do is make sure that your heart is right with God! If you don’t have Jesus in your heart, then the love of God won’t be there either and if it isn’t there then it won’t show up in church or anywhere else. People will wonder about your walk with Christ, whether it is genuine or not, if the Spirit of Christ doesn’t shine through.

This is something which can’t be faked. You can act like a Christian, you can attend church for decades and teach Sunday school, you can even be a pastor and still not be saved if you know the words and what is expected of you! In other words, you can walk and talk it and still not have it because you are just going through the motions and that is all! Many people in our country are doing just that because if there really were over ninety percent of Americans that were real Christians, then every church in the country would be full to overflowing every Sunday!

I am not trying to upset anyone with this, although I may get a few feathers ruffled, but some people do need to wake up! We need a revival in our country, a revival and an exodus back to God, back to morality and knowing the One who helped to make this country into what it has been for over two hundred years! If we don’t put Him back in charge of many areas of our collective lives in this country, we are going to reap the penalty for our refusal and for turning our backs on Him and for pushing Him out of schools and each person’s lives as much as we have.

God loves each one of us with a love that nobody can come close to understanding, except maybe a mother. The love that most mothers feel for their children is the only bond that imitates God’s love for us. I am also emphatically not calling a mother’s love imitation! It just happens to be the only bond that comes close to that which God has for us and would like to share with each of us. Just as when you talk to your mom, God wants to talk to you, but we need to learn to listen. Get away from the computer and the cell phone, leave the e-mail out of it because He doesn’t do e-mail. You have to be able to hear His voice and His voice is one that is quiet, so you have to be, as the Word of God says, “in a quiet place” away from the distractions of life so that you can hear from Him. Personally, I used to talk to Him and try to listen while I was driving to and from work. If you are alone in the car, turn the radio off and tell Him that you are listening…talk to Him just like you do to any other friend that you have, He will hear you.

His love will show through you and others in your church when you are connected to it. When you are listening to Him, you will find out things that your Bible doesn’t have in it..you will come to understand scripture better when you pray about it. God reveals His wisdom to you when you come to Him. Many people today seem to deny the existence of God, they don’t want Him to hold them accountable for their actions but He does and He will, like it or not. Life is given to each of us by Him, daily to live, to love, to serve, to witness to others. What we do with our life is our choice, but our choice has a price. If you choose to follow Jesus and live through Him, other people’s lives will be impacted by your choices and yours will too. If you choose to live your life selfishly, doing only what you want to do, how you want to do it, you will affect some lives too but at the end of this life what will you have to show for it? Some people have big homes, fancy cars, money to burn and fame and all the “fair-weather friends” to go with all of this, but you can’t take any of that with you when you die! When you are gone, so will your so-called friends be, they will be off looking for someone else who has the money or toys that they like, but where will you be?

Many people say that when they die, they will just be dead period. Jesus said that this life is not the end, it is just the beginning. We are created with an eternal soul and that soul will live on, according to what your life was here and through your life on earth. This is the training ground for eternity, so what are you training for? A life of love, compassion, hope, and knowing that you have all of that secured through the sacrifice that Jesus made for you? Or will your eternity be filled with regret and pain, knowing that you could’ve made the right choice which would change your eternity…but you didn’t. You only get to change your mind while you are here in this life, once you pass to the other life the choice has been made.