A Faith That Works: Pastor Aaron Long
Column
I got to thinking about something the other day, I know a lot of people who claim to be Christians and talk about it a lot, but their lives don’t look any different than the world around them.
Understand as I say this, I am not making a distinguishing point between conservative and liberal here, or between traditional or progressive. I am saying that for some reason all so-called Christians today look more like their political party of affiliation or social group or status than they look like a biblical model.
James says if you show him your faith he will show you his faith through his works. He is not saying here that he is saved by his works. James and Paul aren’t fighting here. He is saying that what he believes in is going to show up in how he lives, what he does, the way he walks through this world.
Christianity isn’t a political party; it is an all-consuming belief that should change the believer from the inside out. Christianity is us saying God, I have messed up, I have sinned, I have fallen short of your glory. I have dug a hole in my life, and I don’t know how to get out.
Christianity is us realizing how wrong we are and calling on Jesus to pick us up, wash us off, and take control of our life.
Christianity is what gave Alcoholics Anonymous the idea of the higher power that controls their lives. We need to all realize that if we are going to get out of the hole we are in we’ve got to put our lives in Jesus’ hand and let Him lift us out.
In putting our life in his hands is where we usually stop though. Part of putting our life in his hands is listening to him, obeying him, living our life for him, being obedient to him, keeping him central in our understanding and focus.
A couple of years ago there were these little bracelets going around that said, What Would Jesus Do? I never liked that because Jesus would walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead — I can’t do any of that. What I would have rather seen is the bracelets say, What Would Jesus Have Me Do? That’s the question we should be asking ourselves.
We, if we are going to be Christians, must live our faith. We must daily ask ourselves, What would Jesus have us to do? We must quit following the elephant or the donkey and start following the lamb. If we are going to be Christians, we need to look and live like Christians — loving God, loving others, living holy, striving to make the world a better place.
I have said in sermons before I could sleep in a garage and drink gasoline and carry people around on my back, but I will never be a car. If we are going to claim to be a Christian, we need to start looking and living like one.
We need to put Jesus first in our lives. If there were as many Christians as people claim there are, I bet we wouldn’t have a homeless problem. We wouldn’t have to beg at Christmas to help the needy and disadvantaged. If there were as many Christians as people claim there are, children wouldn’t be hungry around here or anywhere in America.
The problem is based on how people live and act, there really aren’t that many Christians. Most people play at church; it’s time to start being the church. Most people claim the name but don’t carry their cross.
It is time to start walking the talk.
Well, that’s what I got for today — see y’all later, if the Lord wills and the creeks don’t rise. God bless.
