Something that I have looked more into lately is the way Christians were seen Biblically and how they are portrayed now. If you ask a typical non-christian what a christian is, they usually give you an answer in regards to religious, judgmental, close minded, weird, self-righteous, and on we could go. Now I know that is the extreme and some people could care less whether you are a christian or not. But in the Bible I see it totally different. Christians were marked by who they were and how they lived their life, as opposed to just what they said they believed.
The passage I can’t get enough of lately is Paul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus in Acts 9. Paul goes to the high priest and asks for permission to kill all those that belong to the Way. He didn’t say I want to kill Christians, he was clearly saying, I want to kill the ones that are actually living a different WAY of life. They were distinct in who they were. They didn’t go back and forth, they weren’t half in, they were totally committed to what they believed and their whole life reflected it. That is my goal, that should be everyone’s goal who is proclaiming the truth.
I’m reading a book right now by Martin Luther called Concerning Christian Liberty. He highlights what it should be like to live in freedom in our Christian faith. Towards the end of the book he gives this quote. “We conclude therefore that a Christian man does not live in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor, or else is no Christian: in Christ by faith; in his neighbor by love.” That sums it up better than I could say it. How rewarding would it be if people could see we belonged to the Way by how we lived, not just because we go to church, or proclaim we are Christians?
Very true!
So, so true. Been thinking a lot about this lately myself.
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