If I collected a quarter for every time I’ve heard that said to me over the years, it’s a good chance I’d be able to take my bride on her dream vacation by now. I’ve grown accustomed to hearing that said to me from a variety of people I’ve met along the way. I concede that the sandals, ripped jeans, frosted tips, and the minor obsession with the world of MMA is not consistent with the typical pastoral profile, but I’ve never been a huge fan of ‘typical’. It’s no heartbreak for me to hear the surprise in people’s voices when they discover what I do for a living, but it would be tragic if someone said to me ‘You’re a Christian?’ To hear that would mean that my lifestyle is somehow inconsistent with who I claim to be. Meaning, if I claim to be a follower of Jesus, then one should be able to follow the decisions and choices I make on a day to day basis and see a reflection of Jesus not only in ALL I do and say, but in who I am as a person.
So the question I would pose is this: ‘Does the world around you know that you’re a Christian?’ Would one be able to peruse your Facebook profile, observe your entertainment choices, survey your work ethic at your job, listen in on the multiple conversations you have throughout the day, or gaze upon who you are when no one is watching and know that you are a follower of Jesus? A simpler way to put this is – ‘do you stand out, or are you just blending in?’ Jesus stood out! He did not blend! People often think that Jesus only stood out for what He said and what He did, but fail to realize that what set Jesus apart was who He was. His character. His integrity. His purity.
As a follower of Jesus, I am not only commanded to be His hands and feet to the world around me, but to imitate His personhood. On the heels of exhorting Christ followers to have the same attitude of Jesus, the Apostle Paul goes on to say that we are to “become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” (Philippians 2:15) Called to be blameless and pure. In a culture obsessed with beauty, sex and hedonism, who will take a stand to be above reproach (blameless) and holy (pure) in our personhood? Will you? We are called to shine, not blend in with the fading reflection of the world around us. Rather than hearing people say ‘You’re a Christian?’, let the world around us see not only our deeds, but observe our personhood and declare ‘You must be a Christian!’
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