Is It In Name Only?
Titus 1:15-20 (Amplified Bible)
15To the pure [in heart and conscience] all things are pure, but to the defiled and corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are defiled and polluted. 16They profess to know God [to recognize, perceive, and be acquainted with Him], but deny and disown and renounce Him by what they do; they are detestable and loathsome, unbelieving and disobedient and disloyal and rebellious, and [they are] unfit and worthless for good work (deed or enterprise) of any kind.
One of my girlfriends and I were having a conversation some months back, about social sites and how they ask for a person’s religious profession or affiliations, and for many, Christian seems to be the logical choice for them. But then when you talk with them, encounter their attitude, character, conversation or you are in observance of their lifestyle, it is not Christ Like; now this is not a judgmental statement it is that the definition of Christian is to be Christ like. To be a believer is to freely admit that we believe God exists and we can even go so far as to say that Jesus lived; that He died and rose again and we recognize Him as Savior. But what is the basis for who we say that we are; what is the basis for how we live and conduct ourselves? Do we live a life that is rooted in faith and obedience to God’s word or do we adjust things according to what we need to live comfortably and without conviction and true conversion?
My friend questioned me on how can we say that we are Christians and still do things to intentional deceive and hurt people? She wanted to know how we could say we love God and we dog each other out, treat each other with such contempt and disregard. We even lie about who we are and what we do. The questions that were asked were how can people live a double standard and a contradiction and still say that they are a Christian (Christ like). It was hard for me to answer for all who call themselves Christians, but my answer was simply that we are not all Christians just because we label ourselves; because simply stated we have not all grown to being Christians, we may all be believer, but when our action, and activities are based not in what we say we believe and what we are supposed to be obeying; but instead we adhere to what the world says is appropriate, we have not yet allowed a full transformation and recreation within our soul to take place. The transformation that takes us from believer to a disciple , one who is following and is learning to be a Christian, who is for all intents and purposes one who mimics the lifestyle and attributes of Christ. We all want the title but how many of us are willing to live the life that Christ modeled before us? How many of us are willing to be sold out and in total submission to God’s word, and His purpose and design for our lives? Most of us would admit to wanting the benefits, but as far as having to discipline ourselves or deny our bodies, minds and emotions certain things and certain behaviors we would tell you we couldn’t.
The Bible says, whom will we serve, we cannot serve us and God too (Joshua 24:15, Matthew 6:24). Are we going to continue to take the name, without the commitment? It is time to make the choices that do not just have a reward for today, that do not just satisfy us in the moment but have a reward that is eternal. Things that we do to satisfy the flesh can fade and give temporal satisfaction, but what we do for Christ will last, the decisions we make to serve Him and to be more like Him every day will yield us a life filled with God’s Blessings, favor and approve us with eternal life. The choice is always up to us. In so many things that we do we must adhere to the rules, regulations and bylaws, why do we think serving God and becoming a Christian is any different? Are you going to wear His name only or are you going to live the life that goes along with that name?
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