It’s all on you. Imagine if the good and the bad of people was
blamed on you? People weren’t afraid to say you are the reason someone else isn’t
held in high regard. What you did and how you act effects other people. This is
true with faith. What if instead of a person it was God?
If you say one thing and do another it makes people question
you. I was in high school and still trying to figure out what faith was all
about. I attended several different
churches and talked about faith with several different friends. One friend
invited me to church and infrequently I would go with him.
Seeing this guy at church and outside of church was a
different world. This was a guy who drank, smoked, did drugs and would have sex
with any girl he could. Once we got into church it was a different world. We
were in a class and he was the one people looked up too. He had scripture
memorized and would quote scripture as he talked. People would come up to him
and tell him how amazing it is that he takes his faith so seriously. These same
people would give me the dirtiest looks at church. A major reason I thought all
Christians were hypocrites was because of friendships like this, people that
lived one way and did another.
Paul calls out the people faithful to God at the time. In
this case, if you were a follower of God during this time (Esp. before Jesus
came) you were a Jew. Jesus was a Jew too. Romans 2 has some harsh words about
these people that claimed faith but lived a different way. He said this in
Romans 2:24, “As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles
because of you.”
God is not lifted up among those without faith because of
you. More and more studies show that most people have attended church for a
while when they were younger and give it up after high school. One of the main
reasons, Christians are hypocrites. They live one way Sunday morning and
completely different during the week. When people know you are a Christian you
represent God wherever you go.
Some people don’t mind representing God and are good
examples of Jesus others are not. A while ago I talked to a student whose
parent always talked down to them. This parent would say why aren’t you like
Jimmy, Susie and Johnny (Made up people)? The student wanted to tell them
because they drink, smoke and have sex all the time. This parent thought the
people they mentioned were great Christians, but they had no idea. Little did
they know their son was one that did none of the three.
We all make mistakes and misrepresent ourselves at times. As
a Christian, I have done things that have turned people away from faith, I am
not proud of that. I screw up and honestly don’t represent Jesus well at times.
Yet Jesus forgives me and can forgive you too. Church was never meant for the
perfect but the imperfect. The home of Jesus is meant for everyone no matter
how righteous or unrighteous you are.
If someone has caused you to turn your back on God because
of them, I’m sorry. Give God, Jesus and the Church another chance. What other
place can you seek forgiveness like the Church? Don’t give up on Jesus because
of the actions of a Christian. We can all make mistakes and God is a graceful and
forgiving God. Jesus loves you.
Have a great day.
