i just wanted to share something i have been learning while going out for campus evangelism, during my first year at ucsd. or, rather, something i have realized.
a lot of nonbelievers have misconceptions of "christians". the people i have talked to mostly have the same consensus--that "christians" are hypocrites. whether from their personal experiences of attending a church or from their judgment of "christians" that they know, nonbelievers do sometimes have basis for their assumptions. there are some people that proclaim they believe, but, by their actions, don't represent God.
this week i've been going over Titus 1:16-- "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good" which clearly spoke about this subject of hypocrisy among "christians"
here Paul warns Titus of people "of the circumcision group," that is, the Jewish people (v.10). He tells Titus that these people try to proclaim false messages and deceive new believers "for the sake of dishonest gain" (v.11). Even though some of their testimony could be true, their own lives do not uphold the Gospel that is supposed to be the center of their walk with God. "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him" (v.16).
As I said before, this sort of hypocrisy is common among some believers. They attend church every Sunday and Friday and, in a sense, wear a Christian label, calling themselves followers of the Living God. But unlike their stronger brothers and sisters, their worldly lives are no different, if not worse, than those who do not believe. They do not represent God correctly. With their sinful actions, they tarnish the name of the LORD.
i am not saying this for you to judge others, but only to judge yourselves, your own actions. i'm sure your friends and family know that you are Christian because you have told them so. but do your actions reflect what you believe? do you love as Christ loves, forgive as Christ forgives, and live as He lives? or do you live by the standards of the world and look no different than the nonbelievers around you?
i had to ask myself this. am i one of those people who claims to know God but deny Him by what i do? do my actions portray and uphold my beliefs? or do i stumble others, nonbelievers and believers alike?
the Scripture clearly says that we are set apart from this world, as believers. in this way, we shouldn't "conform to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of (our minds)" (Romans 12:1). and how do we renew our minds? through our daily studies of the Bible, of God's Word that is "sharper than any double-edged sword" in defeating the temptations the world offers us (Hebrews 4:12).
i have a challenge for you, brothers and sisters:
- question the jokes you laugh about~ are these jokes pleasing to God, unoffensive to others?
- examine your speech~ do you need to tame your tongue (James 3)? do you say "only what is helpful for building others up" (Ephesians 4)?
- look at your clothing~ why do you wear what you wear? are you dressing for others, for yourself, or for God?
- judge your heart~ are your intentions pure and holy?
let's make God look good !
in Christ alone,
Andrea
5 comments:
First off, i just wanted to say that alex did a great job with the new blog. To andrea's statement, i totally agree, and know that many times i dont say what i should and often laugh at inappropiate stuff.
So yeah, i'm really gonna try to take andrea's challenge and do it.
Thanks, Josh. Ya, sometimes I don't represent God very well at school or even out in the public. Although I wear a WWJD bracelet, I must admit, sometimes I just go along with my friends and joke around making random jokes that might hurt others and it never has occurred to me that it might hurt others. I will definitely take the necessary steps to try and fix that and work on how I act at school.
mhmm...iono. i guess i am just random, but sometimes i might be a little sarcastic. yeah i guess it would hurt my feelings too.
but on a happier thought, we don't hurt other's feelings as much as before. :]
Well it's not just in church Anna. Look outside the box and evaluate yourself. Do you make fun of others at school? Talk about other girls behind their back? Do you reach out to others in times of need? Do you go along with your friends when their doing something bad or stand up for what you believe in? Those are the types of questions you need to be asking yourself as well as myself on a daily basis. Many of us, including myself, need to work on this.
yeah. and we all need to pray to God that he'll help us become more like Him. yay.
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