Scripture I'm Reflecting on: 1 Peter 3:15-16
"....."And when someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way......Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ."
If you're life were made into a movie, what would it look like? Would you like what you see? Would you know, that you are a Christian?
Reflection:
Everyone has different ways of "displaying their faith." Some are very open about it, and look for people to tell. Others consider their faith a personal matter that they keep to themselves. And then there's others that fill out the middle of these two ends of the spectrum. For any NFL fans reading this, compare Tim Tebow to Phillip Rivers. Both are equally very faithful Christians, they just each go about showing their faith in different ways. Tebow mentions it every chance he gets. Rivers doesn't mention it at all publicly. Are either of these wrong? I don't think so. To my knowledge, there is no "right way" to go about this, it is a matter of personal preference. BUT, when asked about our faith, when confronted with an opportunity, we should take the opportunity to expand the Kingdom and get someone else interested in getting to know Jesus. Peter essentially tells us this with this verse. Without people doing this, so many people, including myself, would still be spiritually lost.
I included the second part of verse 16 to reflect on what I think the most important part of the passage is, which is showing people the glory of God in your own lives. There are people out there, quite a few in my life, who just aren't going to listen to preaching. They don't want to hear verses. They don't want your beliefs thrown on them. In fact, doing this will push them farther away from a Christian life. Doing this will build animosity towards the Word. So is there nothing we can do? The answer is, Yes there is. And its simple. Live a good life. Be happy and joyous. Show off the blessings you receive from walking with the Lord. If you grumble and complain at work, school, or at social gatherings to people who know you are a Christian, what do you think the chances are that they will want to come to Jesus? If you're not showing a desirable life, why would they even consider Christianity? Flip that around however, if you are a person who always sees situations for the positive, sees the glass as half full, shows genuine concern for others, and doesn't judge, then people may just want to look into this Jesus fella. Happiness in hard times will spark curiosity, and if people see that your faith is causing this happiness, it will certainly spark curiosity at the very least.
Personal Reflection:
I struggle with this concept personally. Since I have found Jesus, I do generally feel happier, and some around me have said they have noticed some changes. But I still find myself complaining at little things, whining about immaterial issues, and the works.
I did recently have a chance to "display" the new me however at a recent dinner gathering with a group that has been ongoing weekly for about 10+ years now. As you may or may not have been able to tell, I am quite the sports follower, and the big news over the last couple of days has been the Lance Armstrong "blood-doping, performance enhancing" breakthrough story. Naturally, as the resident "sports guy", when I walked in the door, everyone came to me for my take on the story....
A very short cliff-notes background story, I was always the guy that CRUSHED anyone who "cheated", whether it was steroids, corked bats, or whatever. I hated these guys, thought they deserved maximum punishments, on and on and on. Anyway, back when Lance was still riding at the end of his career, I told all of my friends that Lance was cheating. I even wrote a paper as a college senior stating as much. Naturally, most people adamantly disagreed with me because of what an icon Lance was, so it is safe to say I was waiting for this "triumphant" moment for awhile...
Two years ago, this would have been awesome. Now, however, I just feel bad about it. There's no satisfaction in this, and there shouldn't be for anyone. I feel bad for Lance. I feel bad for the people who looked up to him. Two years ago, I would have RIPPED Lance and called him a scam, a fraud. But the first thing that popped into my head when the story broke yesterday was the "Do Not Judge Others...." verse. It's easy to say I would never do something like that from my couch, but is that really true? I was one of the best baseball players in my area when I was in middle school. When we made the jump into high school, my size (I was tiny to put it lightly) held me back from the opportunities that my AAU teammates, who I considered myself better than, were getting. If someone were to have told me, "hey son, take these and you will bulk up, and you will make it on a college team, get a college scholarship." Would I really have said no? I dont know. If I was in a sport like cycling, where it was widely known everyone was blood doping, would I have tried to go at it clean knowing I had no chance at my dream? I dont know. If you were a from a low-income family, and someone told you that you that you had to take steroids to earn a living playing a sport where you could feed your parents, your kids, would you say no?
Maybe we would all have said no. But we need to be careful about jumping to rash conclusions, rash judgments, in situations where we cannot relate to. Lance did some deplorable acts. I'm not advocating for him or telling you how you should feel. But be careful not to judge. Listen to the Word. I write all of this to say, that my group was genuinely shocked by my reaction, and I think they truly took notice of my more positive attitude in this situation. And I must say, it felt really good. Take advantage of these opportunities in your own life, and I think you will feel the same way.
Final thought:
Be a living example of the glory of God. Be infectious with your positive attitude, your peace, your care for others. This thought gives me hope to fulfill this duty I have as a Christian. I will likely never be someone that preaches the Word, or who seeks out people to read Scripture too. But I can succeed at showing off the Christian faith in the way I live.
Now more than ever in the world today, people are watching other people. Don't believe me? Just turn on the TV and see how many reality shows are playing. Today's population is fascinated with how other people live. USE THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. People want to live like other happy people they see. So show them how to do that through faith!
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