Pale Facsimile

When I was driving for Uber and Lyft, I once took someone to his job at a very nice/expensive restaurant downtown when there was a Christian conference going on. He told me how much those in the industry HATED when Christians were in town because many were rude to the staff, ordered very little and often didn’t leave a tip, or if they did it was a dollar or two. What I found even worse is that some would leave a note judging the staff for what they saw as character flaws and would even leave tracts telling them how to become a follower of Christ when they just made following Him look VERY undesirable. I even decided to stay away from downtown during these conferences for the same reasons – and I’m a Christian.

Judging God Through Our Actions

When you say you are a Christian, people watch you to see if you are any different and judge God accordingly. We should be the most supportive, loving, hope-filled, adventurous and generous people because we have been given so much and we want others to have it as well. Instead, we hold tightly to our money instead of giving freely, we grumble through life like those who have no hope instead of being thankful for what we have and we treat others like they are nothing, yet we expect them to treat us with the utmost respect and service, when we should be treating others as Jesus treated and loved others.

Unfortunately, far too often, this is what the world sees that comes from giving your life to Christ. That is a travesty. With Jesus, we have been given a beautiful freedom and joy that comes with a relationship with God. That should be what people see when they watch a follower of Jesus. Instead, we let them see us claiming to be Christians but looking nothing like Christ or anything that comes with knowing Him and being in relationship with Him.

Truly Knowing God

There are so many of us who don’t even really know Who God is. We are continually trying to make God current and on point to look more like us and what the world wants rather than really getting to know Who He is and allowing Him to make us look more like Him. We want Him to look like the worldview as it is today. We want to be able to understand and explain everything about Him, which will never happen, rather than be in awe and wonder of the wonderful Creator He is. We explain away the miracles and gentle leadings of the Spirit so that we don’t sound crazy or stupid to those who don’t know Him.

We’ve traded in the Almighty for a pale facsimile of what we want Him to look like. We’re so lost and we don’t even realize it because we believe we fit in when we lessen Who we know God to be in the name of making Him more palatable to the world. In truth, it is really ourselves that we want to seem more palatable and comfortable in the world .

Be Different

We are losing out on real life because we are so busy trying not to call too much attention to ourselves by being different. But we should be different. God hasn’t and won’t change. He is perfect, loving and wants everyone to know Him. He wants everyone to have the true freedom that He gives. But we as humans want what our senses experience now, we want the desires of our hearts regardless of where it will take us or what consequence it will bring.  And we are willing to give up what is best for what is now.

The saddest part of this type of thinking is that God isn’t asking you to change everything and then get to know Who He is. He’s not asking you to come into a life of drudgery, rules and judgment. The best word to describe God is Love. True Love. He wants you to come to Him, get to know Him and allow Him to show you what you could be, how He sees you, Who He says you are and the changes will follow. Your life will be changed. Some of the changes may be difficult, but you won’t be alone while they are happening. 

God will give you strength you’ve never known, help when nothing seems possible and joy, true joy, will follow if you continue to get to know God for Who He really is.

~ Joanna Lynn