![]() |
Photo Credit: Michelle Jung, Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/kunstlab/ |
Has the visible distinction between Christians and the world gotten somewhat cloudy lately? If so, what caused it, and how do we return to being separate from the world? Should we even strive for a return to apartness from it? Does “holiness” (being set apart) still apply, and if so, what does that mean?
I confess that I often have more questions than I have
answers, so if it is answers you’re looking for, I’m sorry to say that you most
likely won’t find them here. All you’ll find here are the musings of an old
biker, nicknamed by some, “Preacher.”
As I thought about some of these questions, I began to think
also of that old Peter Scholtes hymn we used to sing:
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord And we pray that all unity may one day be restored And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love
Is that really true? Will they know we are Christians by our love? It all sounds nice and utopian, but is it true?
![]() |
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/40557496@N03/ |
I’ve heard some people say that the proof of the
Christian walk is in the “fruits of the Spirit.” What does that mean? The
apostle Paul said, “the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22; ESV). OK, this raises another
question, are those traits observable in Christians only? Do we have exclusive
rights to those “fruits?” No, I don’t think so. Again, I know many non-Christians
to whom I would easily apply several of these terms and, ironically, many professing
Christians to whom I would not apply them at all.
So if all of this is true, then we’re back to ground
zero. Can someone tell a true Christian from a pseudo-Christian, or
non-Christian, simply by observation? And if so, what is the determining factor(s)
that differentiate the one from the other?
Anyone can say they are Christian. Many cults call themselves Christian. I've even heard friends within Mormonism describe themselves as Christians. Is the whole question a
subjective one? I cannot really accept that; it seems there must be more to it
than subjectivity, but what is it?
![]() |
Photo Credit: Allie Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/30691679@N07/ |
Forget the christianese bumper stickers, tee shirts,
and execution jewelry (the cross necklaces, etc.); anyone can have those and
they don’t make someone a Christian any more than someone “going” to an
institutional church makes them a Christian. They don’t make someone a
Christian any more than the person who swears by using the Lord’s name in vain
makes him a Christian either. Even those saying, “Jesus is Lord,” as spiritual
as that sounds, could actually be liars.
I really am not trying to be a smart a** here. These
are questions that have been weighing on me for a while now. The fact is, the
devil himself can preach a powerful sermon of deception (John 8:44), and
Pharaoh’s magicians did duplicate many of the miracles that God did through
Moses (Exodus 7:11). The point is, externals may be deceptive. So where is the
answer found? Is there a sure fire way to know? What is it?
Probably one of my all time favorite biographies is
“Rees Howells: Intercessor” by Norman Grubb. Let me share a little excerpt:
But if at the beginning the world was affecting him, by the end it was he who was affecting the world, for people sensed the presence of God with him, and said so. Even some with no religious faith would take their hats off when they passed him on the streets. One old man used to tell people, “You mark my words: there goes a modern John the Baptist.” An evidence of the effect he had on the district was seen later when a man who did not know his name simply asked the ticket collector at the station where “the man with the Holy Ghost” lived and was directed to Mr. Howells! (Page 118-119)
I’ve often mused, if a stranger who didn’t know my
name showed up at the receptionist’s desk in my workplace and asked where the
office of “the man with the Holy Ghost”
was, would he automatically be directed to my office? Hmm, I wonder.
They’ll know we are Christians by our … what?
![]() |
Photo Credit: Brian Anderson Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/people/banderson623/ |
Maybe it’s time for us to spend a little less time
online and a little more time face-to-face with people. Maybe that’s where I’ll
find the answers to these questions that have been plaguing me of late.
With all due respect to my online friends, I’m logging off now, going to call a friend or two, leave the house, and get together again face-to-face like we used to in those wonderful days before the Internet came and subtly stole that away from many of us. Remember those days?
With all due respect to my online friends, I’m logging off now, going to call a friend or two, leave the house, and get together again face-to-face like we used to in those wonderful days before the Internet came and subtly stole that away from many of us. Remember those days?
That’s the way I see it anyway. Peace.
No comments:
Post a comment