Authentic Christianity

Sweat was pouring off Peter as he moved to protect Jesus. As Roman soldiers held the one who had been labeled a heretic, Peter drew a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear. And he was stunned when Jesus told him to put the sword away. You see Jesus knew infinitely more than Peter, or anyone else. He knew the end from the beginning, and He knew He had an agenda to see through to the end, and Peter couldn’t see that. And impulsively He moved to change the facts on the ground. And that’s so typical of us as humans. The authentic Christian wants to do something to fix things or change the world. The theologian Francis Schaeffer wrote a whole book titled “How Should We Then Live” on the role of a Christian in the modern world. And there are arguments over whether America is still a Christian nation, or whether postmodernism has won the day. But what does the Bible say about being a witness in the world? Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Notice it doesn’t say engage. We’re in fact told not to become like the world in all its anti-God stuff. Yet we also know one of the last things Jesus said to His disciples before He ascended into heaven was that we should go into all the world and make disciples. The Apostle Paul made an interesting observation in 1 Corinthians 9. He said that he was free from conformity to the world—it had nothing he coveted—but that he chose to be a servant to all, so that his example might win some to Christ. In Hebrews 13, we’re told to practice hospitality. And this echoes many Old Testament passages, too. The idea is a believer is to be an example of what life with God looks like in hopes it will draw unbelievers. And this must be done with sincerity though, especially in our jaded modern culture. First Corinthians 10 tells us whatever we do, do it for the glory of God alone. To sum up, the Bible tells us to absolutely live in this world and be appealing to people, but to do all this while holding onto our convictions. Balancing being a gospel witness, while also being seen as personable, is the approach for our modern world. Let’s pray. Father God, you’ve given us direction for all that we do. Help us to continually have a burden for the lost and to always remember we’re to be salt and light for a hurting world. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world!