Karen Brooks Smith
Sometimes as I walk through this life I am dumbfounded by the ways the Bible does not match up with the Christians I see around me. Most importantly, many times this realization is made when I am looking in the mirror.
Examples of failures
It is the last part of the statement that is haunting me. Why are we so unrecognizable in comparison to our namesake? I know I can be the biggest offender of this problem. I can have an amazing time in His word, blown away by his wonderful Love, Power and Grace. Two hours later I have lost all of my patience and I am yelling at my daughter. Really?
I can experience a time of worship and fellowship in Him and I am filled with His Joy. However, that Joy cannot be found when I am standing at a long line at a store the next day. Wow!
Then I hear the stories… how a church judged a woman because she married a man of a different race, and how a man in a car bedecked with a Jesus fish gestured hatefully at a fellow driver. I hear Christians speak in judgment and envy, and act with selfishness and hate.
Recently, I was blessed to be able to attend a Chris Tomlin concert in Denver. This Godly man humbly led 5,000 people into powerful worships of our living Lord. You could literally feel the Holy Spirit vibrating in the venue. I was in awe and yet I could not help but wonder how this power and strength might impact the city of Denver, then Colorado, then the US if it was released! After the concert I walked back to my hotel room fell asleep and did nothing.
When I realized just how powerful, amazing and big our God is – and I look at myself and the world around me – I am disappointed. Are we really being His ambassadors? In 2 Corinthians 5:20 it says “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God.”
Why can’t we represent?
I have heard many arguments about this. I have heard about our sinful nature. In Romans 7:18 it says “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”
I have heard that we cannot see how God may be working and I have even been told not to be so hard on myself. I get it. I understand the arguments, but this issue stills confuses me. The answers do not seem to equal up to the problem.
So, I implore you to join me. The next time you see or you participate in an action that does not line up with the “Christ” in “Christian,” choose not to complain, judge, and/or look the other way. Move away from shame. Take hold of the power of Jesus’ sacrifice and humbly beseech our Father in prayer.
WOW!! What an article this young woman has written on a subject we all question in our hearts all the time. I have had the honor of once being in a Bible study with this young woman for two years and it is incredible to see the growth she has experienced in one so young! Praise God for her leap of wisdom, she is well on her way to becoming a Proverbs 31 woman! Karen, I miss you and your delightful courage, sense of humor and no nonsense honesty. Kiss the girls and may your path continue to be full of His loving grace. Love you, Faith Meyer
This article does a fantastic job of giving an overview of this problem that exists between the church and the secular world. I am actually putting the final touches on a book that addresses this issue, as well.
Too many people are being turned off by the church, not because of doctrine or lack of a willingness to believe, but by Christians themselves. As the saying goes, “I like Jesus; it’s his followers that I can’t stand.” Many of us in the church appear as either holier-than-thou prudes who look down on everyone as “Sinners.” Or we are WINO’s, Witnesses in Name Only, Christians who put a fresh coat of paint on every Sunday morning but are indistinguishable from the world the other six days of the week. Rather than being set aside for God’s purpose, we do our best to fit in, to conform to the world around us. The result being that our personal hypocrisy taints many people’s opinion of the entire body of Christ.
The image of God that the world knows is largely that which is provided by His followers. What sort of image are we creating in their eyes by our actions? Is it one of love and hope, of forgiveness and a humble heart? Or is it condemnation, of being judgmental? Or is it one of hypocrisy and double standards, where we say one thing on Sunday mornings and do something entirely different the rest of the week? I know that I have too often failed to practice what it is that I preach, that I talk of the Kingdom but live as the world. The process of sanctification, of becoming more Christ-like in our character, is a lifelong process, but we must accept that we play a role in that process. We aren’t lifeless clay in God’s hands. We make daily choices that either aid or hinder the process and those around us are witness to our triumphs and our failures.
Much like a wedding ring is a statement to the world that we are “off the market,” our actions should be a similar pronouncement to the world; that we are His and therefore not wedded to the things of this world. Once you acknowledge the kingship of Christ, you are a representative of Him. And as a representative, He expects us to appropriately represent Him to the world, to be the living embodiment of the one who has saved us so that others will want to know the source of our happiness. To do any less is to defame God.
My new book, The Four Pillars of the Kingdom, is set to be released soon. It is, not only a response to some of the metaphysical arguments of the so-called New Atheists, but also a call to believers to take their faith serious in a very real way. You can find a few excerpts from the work at my website, The Immaculate Conservative, here:
http://bit.ly/TheFourPillars
Please read and let me know what you think!
Thanks,
Joe Brooks
I think the difficulty for most people is to repent and part ways with the old self. In fact, even many of those that call themselves Christians, actually mingle circular and pagan traditions with Christianity , i.e. they pratice syncretism, which is against scripture.
Nowadays, there is a proliferation of many different versions and brands of Christianity invented by religious entrepreneurs, each appealing to the material desires of this world than preaching repentance and the coming Kingdom of God. Christian values have been compromised to accommodate the world and for political expediency. Many people have become victims of emotional massaging and manipulation by fly-by-night priests and have been left even poorer.
This situation has created a kind of people that only come to church to satisfy their material requirements without necessarily repenting and serving God. We tend to like those places promise to give something or to serve our interests.
Great article ! Thank you !
Please search you – tube for Mark Biltz – Blood Red Moons, (lunar eclipses ) their rarity, and the coming ones in 2014 -2015 that fall on the Jewish feasts. YAHWEH in Genesis states HE created the moon, sun & heavenly bodies as * Signs*. Incredible video, based on Scripture. Must See !!!!! YAHWEH’S Blessings to All of you & yours !!!