Why You Should Care How You Act [Christian Testimony]
What are Christians like? Depending on who you ask this question, you are probably going to get different answers. Some may say these people are “compassionate, loving, kind” and some may say “terrible, hypocritical, rude”. Why the mixed review? Well, it all depends on what kind of interactions people have had with Christians.
Think of Christians you have met before. Did they resemble in any way Jesus, the man they are following? No matter your answer to that is, we know that the answer should be “YES” but of course this is not always the case.
In all honesty, this same type of mixed review is going to happen with any type of person you ask about. Just like you are going to find a rude hypocrite in a church sometimes, you'll find a rude hypocrite at the bank as well. I am sure a Christian will mistreat you at some point in your life, and so will your coworker.
If the question is “What do you think about cops, doctors, home depot employees..” whatever.. your answers will be just as varied. Good and bad people exist in whatever setting you wish to confine them to, including the church.
It comes down to the fact that everyone is unique. Not every Cop is exactly the same, some may be kind and some may be rude. Some Doctors might be kind, some might be rude. People are going to base their opinions on these people groups based on the encounters they have had with these groups of people.
So if some people love Cops and love Doctors, and some people hate Cops and hate Doctors, what difference does it make? To each his own right? You have your opinion and I have mine so let's just drop it…right? Well if we are talking about cops and doctors then fine, by all means have your opinion, by all means let's drop it. But when we are talking about Christians I truly believe this matters greatly and there is much more at stake.
Don’t like Cops? Then don’t call them when you need them! Don’t like Doctors? Then don’t call them when you need them! Although avoiding help from Doctors or Police officers because you simply do not like them is not wise, the only thing that could be affected is your well being right here and right now. There are no eternal consequences for not liking cops or doctors.
But what if you don’t like Christians? What if you never want to interact with a follower of Jesus? Now we have a much bigger issue. Christians are meant to live their lives as an example to the world. Christians should be trying to show people the love of God. People alive and living right now have literally ONE chance to get saved. There is no other chance after they have taken their last breath. Ultimately, it is up to the individual if they are going to hear the gospel and believe it and call upon the Lord for salvation, but I am telling you that the way we interact with these people can help or hinder these people making such a decision.
There are people who have hurt people in churches, in the name of God, and now those hurt people want absolutely nothing to do with God or anyone who claims the name of God…and that breaks my heart. Sometimes it is indeed a Christian who hurt that person, sometimes it is a wolf who snuck in among the sheep to prey on someone, either way the damage is done and it is nothing but a black eye for Christianity all together. How people view Christians DOES matter. How Christians interact with people DOES matter.
I am not content with “well some Christians are good people and some aren't”. This should not be the case! When people see a man or woman of God, they SHOULD at least be able to identify that the person is a decent human being, even if they don’t believe in God whatsoever.
Doctors and Cops aren't claiming to be representatives of Christ, Christians are. Doctors and Cops aren't trying to point people to Jesus, Christians are. Doctors and Cops are where they are to save lives, Christians need to be aware that they are where they are to save spiritual lives!
You might find a kind barista, and an unkind follower of Jesus, but only one of these people is claiming to follow Jesus. Far too long have my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ been too relaxed about how people view us. And let me say before you take this wrong, I do not mean toning down what the Bible teaches or not standing firm on Biblical truths, I am referring to people not caring how people view their own behavior in everyday interactions. People need to drop this “only God can judge me” thing. A Home Depot employee can’t just hit someone over the head because they said something annoying, because they are representing home depot. A Cop can't just not help someone in need because they don't agree with that person's politics, because they are representing the municipality or the county. How we behave ourselves is going to reflect on someone else. Friend, God IS judging how you act, and so is everyone else.
People's actions draw us to certain conclusions, it's the way things go. People who pretend they never make a judgment based on the way someone looks, or the way they are acting, are lying to themselves. I have seen kids who interact with other kids in a very violent way. When I see these kids strangle, bite, or attack another child completely unprovoked, I can’t help but say to myself “man what a little psychopath”. Is this fair of me? Who knows, but it's my gut reaction. However, the real issue at hand is what is making this little psychopath act like this? Are his parents abusive? See how just by observing the way this child treats others, naturally I will form my own conclusion on his parents and his household? Again, I see a nasty and violent child, I assume the parents are terrible. All this is based on my interaction I witness before my eyes.
Christian, are we paying attention to the conclusions we are forcing people to come to about our Father in Heaven? How do you respond when someone wrongs you? What about the guy who cuts you off and flips you the bird in traffic? Do you reach out your arm with that “what would Jesus do” bracelet swaying in the wind while flipping it right back at him? That person in line at the grocery store cuts you off and blankly stares ahead like they didn't, are you shoving them out of the way wearing your “Jesus loves you” shirt and asserting that you were their first? Are you being just as ruthless and cutthroat as everyone else in this world? True, it has been said “It’s a dog eat dog world” but you are a child of God, not a dog.
Christian, are we making people say “man what a psychopath, I want nothing to do with that person or their Jesus they follow” or are we making people say “hey, that person is a really decent person, they might be onto something with this Jesus thing”?
If people are going to dislike God, or dislike religion, it shouldn’t be our actions and our character flaws that bring people to this conclusion.
It is sad when a follower of Jesus has a bad testimony. Now, the Word “Testimony” is one of those words that are so important and multi-functional that 10 different people will give you ten different definitions, but most likely all would be correct. So let me explain it my way, and I'm sure most of my brothers and sisters in Christ will completely agree.
I think this portion of scripture conveys the idea of a Christian testimony perfectly…
Matthew 5:13-16
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
When thinking about our testimony we should keep Matthew 5:13-16 in mind at all times. Let’s look at these verses a little more closely.
Verse 13 states that we are the salt of the earth. Notice, that IF that salt is not serving its purpose, it is good for nothing. We need to make sure we are not being good for nothing Christians. Yes you have value and God loves you, but when you got saved He left you here on earth for a reason, and that reason is to glorify Him and bring others to Him. If you are not doing this, there really is no purpose to be in this sin laden world anymore. Yet, if you are reading this, and you are alive right now, God wants to use you for His glory! That is why our testimony matters. How people perceive us matters.
Verse 14 we are referred to as the light of the world. That becomes so special to us when we understand that the same description is given to Jesus Christ also! (John 1:1-10) We are to shine the light of Jesus all throughout this dark world! Friend, that is our very purpose! We are not meant to hide this glorious light under anything, we are to shine this light from the mountain tops!
Verse 16 further backs this up, and introduces how to practically put in motion what Jesus is saying. The way we build and obtain a strong testimony that helps guide people to Christ, is by our good works. If our good works are glorifying God then we are doing well and are being a good testimony for God.
When someone walking in front of you drops their wallet and you holler and yell and get their attention, that is good work! They might look at you and wonder why you are different from others who may have kept quiet so they could have the wallet for themselves, but you can tell this person you follow Jesus and that is why you wanted to help them.
You see the beggar on the side of the road with a sign that says “2 days sober” and you stop and give him some encouragement. That is good work! You let him know that God cares that he is struggling and that God can and will help him.
A non believing coworker at work confesses to you that they are going through some very hard times in their lives and you ask if you could be praying for them and that you will earnestly go to God on their behalf because you care about them. That is good work! When they see you care about them enough to actually listen to their problems, and care enough to spend your own personal time praying for them, that is showing them the love of God.
If we are paying attention to the world around us we will see that there are so many opportunities that we can jump in and help people and show them the love of Christ. There are many ways that we can be a good testimony for Jesus and let our light shine before men.
Christian, what are YOU doing that is leading people to Christ? How are you interacting with the people of this world and how will that affect eternity for these people?
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