conviction and commentary

somtimes I wonder how people perceive me.
geek? awkward? freaking awesome? stuck up? chill? mean? brown-noser? Jesus?


we live in a culture where, chances are, you are labeled as one of the above. we decide who is cool and who's not. we decide who we want to associate with by how we have labeled them. how many of the people around you would you label 'Christ-like'? would you label yourself in such a way?

followers of Christ are called to represent Him her eon earth, to actually be Jesus to the world around us. that's a big responsibility, and one i think we as believers take much too lightly. we treat Christ's standards like a joke, taking advantage of His immense love, grace, and patience. we flirt with sin, as if our hearts and minds are invincible and impenetrable just because we have labeled ourselves "christians". we negotiate and make compromises with ourselves, basically telling Jesus "well, thanks for the get-out-of-jail-free card." but the cross was and is so much more than an easy-out when you screw up. it was a sacrifice of love so that you could live life with joy, looking forward to eternity in the glorious presence of God, and that you could share that joy and anticipation with others.


now, don't get me wrong. every last person on this earth is going to sin eventually. in fact, you and i have probably both sinned in the last hour. and that's why God's grace is so incredible. i have messed up so many times. i let a rather unpleasant word or two slip. i get angry. i disrespect people behind their backs and to their faces. and those are just some of the more easily fixed and remedied things. but the Lord has washed me clean of those things and the things i've done that we would consider "worse than most."

but we are not to use that precious gift as a crutch. as an excuse. we are to try our best to represent Christ.
and how often do we portray Christ as someone He's not?
someone with a dirty mouth. perverted thoughts. deceitful. addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, and others' opinions of themselves. foul-tempered. negative. judgemental.
is this what Jesus has become?

those who don't know Christ are watching those who do. watching to find out who this 'Jesus' is.




honestly, we're doing a pretty crappy job being Jesus to the world.
and i say 'we' because i'm just as guilty.



now, i understand that some people are still struggling with past sins that affect how the represent Christ, such as addictions, and those things can take time. but they are continually handing their burdens over to the Lord. and that's just it. they're pleading with God, actively pursuing sanctification in a way that most of us "christians" don't. so many "christians" are not even trying, and that kills me, partly because i know that i often have that same attitude of apathy.
and that sucks.


but i pray, and please pray for me in this area, that i would overcome that, because there's nothing that breaks my heart more than seeing someone reject Christ because they saw christians as no different than the rest of the world. we are called to be in the world, that is true; but in the world, yet not of the world.

how can we, in good conscience, show people Christ, a bible in one hand and a joint in the other? words of love for some and gossip for others? a holy kiss for our brothers and sisters in Christ and a seductive one for the world? our consciences are seared by compromise.
we figure that as long as we don't get caught, we're ok. or that we'll deal with that sin when we're older and wiser. or we just want to show everyone that christians can party with the best of them.


but are these things worth men's souls? is your addiction, loose tongue, or cool reputation worth the same as a soul that could potentially be eternally separated from our loving Father?


it sounds harsh.
but hell is nothing to mess around with.


so many people waste a lot of time just waiting for some huge experience that will radically change them and force them to give up those nagging sinful habits. some wait for that experience right up until the time where they are placed, dead, in their grave, having been perfectly content to wallow in sin until then, waiting for God to do all their work for them, to instantly sanctify them, to change them without their having to put forth any effort.
we put off doing the hard, yet right, thing until it's too late.



so all of this to ask, 'how are we representing Christ?'
do people want to know Him by looking at us?
what we do?
our attitudes?
do people see us and think 'they have what i need. what i'm looking for. what my soul was made for.' ?


and so i challenge you, convicted and humbled myself, to look at yourself. your life. your words. your thoughts. and ask 'do i look like Jesus? how am i representing Christ? do people see me and know i have what they're missing?'


i pray that every believers answer would some day be 'yes.'