Today I had a conversation with a man named Johnny. We both go to the same gym and see each other almost everyday. Sometimes we share an occasional head nod, but other than that, we haven’t said a word to each other. In the locker room after our workout he, my buddy Massimo and I had a conversation, starting with small talk and leading into some more deep talks of God, faith, and religion. Johnny had a limited knowledge of church. He had some people in his life who had brought him to Catholic mass and some encounters with Mormons coming to his door; he believed in God, but had been hurt by people. He told us stories of people in his family who had positions of power and a good reputation in the church, but were not the people that they presented themselves to be behind closed doors. He stopped going to church like many because he saw the hypocrisy of God’s people. He couldn’t trust anymore that what he heard from the man or woman on stage was pure, and thus, his view on the body of Christ and religion was tainted.
Who could fault Johnny? He, like so many others, believes in God and talks to the “man upstairs,” but he probably wouldn’t be caught dead again in a church of any faith. It makes sense that someone would stray away from a place that was full of hypocrisy, a place that only had the image of safety, but was rather, as Jesus stated, a den of thieves. It grieves my heart that so many are led astray by the children of God, by people that claim to carry God’s grace but speak in their own judgment, praise and worship in song but speak death with their words, and pronounce righteousness while living in sin. Of course, there are so many Christians that are good hearted, and often they are just trying to do the best that they can. To be honest, if you want to talk about hypocrites, you’d probably have to include most everyone on the planet. Nevertheless, Johnny’s story touched my heart and again encouraged me to live in honesty and truth. I am called to be light and love for the world. I am called to be a beacon of peace and joy and a safe place for those who need refuge. Johnny’s story made clear to me the importance of living a single life. No, not one that refrains from entering into intimate relationships, but one that refuses to live two different ways, one in front of people and one when no one is looking. If I claim to follow this Jesus whom I love, and this Jesus loves to love and inspire change in people, then it is both my privilege and duty to represent him in a way that honors His nature. People like Johnny need something real. They don’t want church on Sunday, they want the living God. They don’t just need a sermon, they need to encounter the person of Jesus. And if we are the image of this Jesus then our lives ought to reflect it because before people every read the Bible, they will read us.
Paul, the apostle, says it this way to the church in Corinth: “You (the people of Corinth) show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” This means that my life as a Christian is a word to people around me, a word that often times will speak much louder than a service on Sunday or a passage of Scripture. My life, and yours, is meant to be a tangible expression of the heart, nature, and wisdom of God. It is designed for reflection, to see the Father, God Almighty, and to become like him, so that people may know his goodness. It is to be trustworthy and faithful and full of the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control, so that people like Johnny may have opportunity to see God in the right light. Our lives are a testimony to the power and change that encountering God can bring, and if we live hypocritically, this power is tainted. It is seen merely as oppressive religion and regulation.
I want people to encounter the God of creation in truth, and for this reason, I am dedicated to being the most authentic believer I can be. I don’t have everything together by any means, but I am interested only in becoming more in love with Jesus and more genuine in my reflection of His character. I don’t want to live a double life that brings confusion to others about who God actually is. May we be a people who humble ourselves before God and flee from things that taint the image of God to other people.
Abundant Living 