Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

What should a Christian look Like?

 

(1 Corinthians 15:32)  If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, "LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE!"

(1 Corinthians 15:33)  Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."

(1 Corinthians 15:34)  Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

 

(Ephesians 5:1)  Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

 

We know that a Biblical Christian is one who trusts in the Lord for eternal salvation and for preservation in this life.  Salvation is a gift that we receive and not a work that we do.  However, because only God can see the heart, we who claim to be Christians need to look like Christians by the things that we do and say.  When the Lord was having Jesse’s sons pass before Samuel because one of them had been chosen by God to be the next king, the Lord said to Samuel, "For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart   (1 Samuel 16:7) .”  I don’t think this was a criticism, I think it was a statement of fact.  God can see the heart (that is what motivates us and what we love), but man can only see the way a person behaves and looks.  We base our judgments on outward appearances.  Some times those judgments are based on our prejudices and other times those judgments are valid evaluations based on the way a person acts.  My question is, "What should a Christian look like today?"

 

A Christians should be Content

Paul says, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:6-10).”

 

Getting ahead should not be our goal in life.  Being God-like should be our goal.  Being rich is not a sin but sinning to get rich is certainly not ‘like Christ."  The Lord didn’t even have a home to live in and He owned the cattle on a thousand hills.  Matthew tells us that the Lord said to one who wanted to follow Him,  "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head  (Matthew 8:20).”

 

A Christian’s words should be Gracious

 Paul says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29).”  Our words should build people up and not tear them down.

 

A Christian should be Peaceable

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord  (Hebrews 12:14).”  The Lord blesses peacemakers in the beatitudes.  I think one aspect of holiness (or a sanctified life) is the desire to be peaceable rather than disagreeable.  Not too long ago I was in a Bible study and the person I was with was going on and on about something he didn’t understand.  Of course he thought he did understand it.  I tried to stop him on several occasions to explain this concept to him (one that I have explained many times before).  Because he thought he was the expert on this matter and I thought that I was, I finally raised my voice to get him to stop and let me talk.  But because the gospel is not a debate, it is a fact, I should not have done that even if I never had a chance to get a word in “edgewise” as they say.  I am sure that those listening to our conversation did not see a “peaceable” Christian in me during that exchange that afternoon.

 

A Christian should tell the Truth

It is impossible for God to lie but for some people they lie when the truth would do better.  Our faith in Christ is based on the fact that He has not lied to us.  When He says, “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life,” you can take that promise to the bank (John 3:36).  But since Christians are the ones who tell others about the Gospel, how can they be believed about eternal things if they are not believable in this life?  I am reasonably confident that we have all lied but this should not be the character of our lives. 

 

Evil company corrupts good Habits

What does Paul mean by this?  He is saying that the company we keep is going to affect the way we act.  Evil company will likely lead us into evil “habits” or behavior.  Good company will be a help to us in being Christ-like.  People today are playing follow the leader in most areas of their lives and in many cases they are following leaders who do not have “the knowledge of God.”  In other words, they have never been regenerated by the new birth.  They have never repented and believed.  But because they appear to be successful, many people imitate them to their own sorrow.  I often wonder what the Lord would say if He were present today in our religious gatherings.  Would He call us scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites or would call us his faithful servants (Matthew 25:21)?

 

We need the fellowship of others who are godly because those who become our friends will have a great influence on who we become. 

 

We need to choose our company wisely.

 

Bruce Collins

 

Meditation for the week of October 22, 2017

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>