Walk the Walk

James 3: 9-10 (NIV)

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

This is the verse that automatically appeared on my phone this morning.  I have a bible application on my phone that gives me a different verse each day.  I use it during my quiet time every morning.  If you have a smart phone, it is something that is free and I highly recommend it.

Interestingly enough, yesterday while sitting in the carpool line at school, I haphazardly opened up my bible to the book of Philemon.  This book in the New Testament contains only one chapter and is a letter written by Paul to Philemon, his “dear friend and fellow worker.” (Philemon 1:1)

Paul writes on behalf of Onesimus, one of Philemon’s slaves who had apparently stolen from him and then run away.  Upon meeting Paul, Onesimus became a Christian.  Paul desires to send Onesimus back to Philemon, not for punishment (which was death in these scenarios), but for forgiveness.

Paul begins his letter by thanking God for Philemon and acknowledging his faith and his “love for all the saints. “ (1:5)

Only after this does he appeal for forgiveness for Onesimus.  He says, “Although I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, I appeal to you on the basis of love.” (1:8)

I once read a statistic that the number one thing that has turned so many Christians away from the church and away from God is hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy is pretending to have beliefs, virtues or standards that one does not actually have. 

Hypocrisy is blamed when we see priests who have molested countless children.  Or when a preacher kills his wife or has an affair.  But it is also perceived when a church spends money in an irresponsible way.  Or how about when church going people are the biggest gossips, drunks, or adulterers in town?

It’s hard to walk the walk.  It is much easier to talk the talk. 

We can say how much we love God and we can say how much we want to be spirit-led.  We can quote scripture, go to church, and participate in bible studies.  That is talking the talk.

But when we gossip about someone – even in the name of a prayer request….. Or when we curse someone for cutting us off in traffic….or when we refuse forgiveness to someone who has hurt us or our children—or when we dress inappropriately to get the attention of someone else’s husband,  we are not walking the walk.

Paul says to Philemon in 1:15, “Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good- no longer as a slave but better than a slave, as a dear brother.” 

This story of Onesimus is a story of redemption—of rescue—of deliverance from sin.  And this is all of our stories.  Perhaps it is our own sin that helped us too, turn a corner.

Have you ever stopped to think that Christianity is born from sin?  Jesus Christ came to earth to take away our sins. 

So many times, it takes sin for us to turn to God.  We either pray about our own sins or we pray about the sins of others.  What I mean is that the nature and consequences of our sins are often what throws us down on our knees with nowhere to turn but up.  

Sin creates our need for God….our need for Jesus.  (So do things like disease and death....but today I want to focus on sin).  Jesus came to us, living a sinless life, so that we all could be forgiven of our own sins.  Make no mistake, God hates our sins.  But he loves us and he forgives us for them when we seek him.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not done by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Ephesians 2:8

It is by grace that we have been saved…rescued…redeemed.  It is a gift from God, nothing we earned.  So if we say we want to be like Jesus, we must extend grace to others just as it is extended to us.  Freely.  Without being earned. 

We all want others to judge our actions based on our intent and what is in our hearts. Sometimes I say things to people that just don’t come out right.  I think, “wow, who on earth just said that?  That wasn’t me!”  And I hope they know my heart and realize it wasn’t me.  But then when someone says something not so nice to me, I often think, “She is such a hypocrite.  How could she be so mean?”

Or I accidentally pull out in front of a car, causing them to slam on breaks because I didn’t realize the light was red, not green.  I wave politely and smile.  I try to show them how nice I am so they realize I didn’t mean to almost cause an accident.  But then later in the day when someone pulls out in front me –and Lord help them if they happen to be on their cell phone—I start grumbling.  Sometimes, I even yell at them, “COME ON, pay attention!  Geez, you are going to kill someone!”

Anyone else feel a bit convicted today?

Look, all we can do is pray and strive to be more like Jesus.  We are going to sin.  And the more you go out on a limb preaching Christianity, the more Satan tries to mess with you.  He loves to make a mockery out of Christians.  Who better than to fall than a preacher or someone in ministry?

What matters is not that you fall.  What matters is how you get up.  People are watching.  When it’s time to walk the walk, the people who have written off Christianity are watching you.  If they see you going to church and praying and then they hear you gossip or see you getting obliterated at a party or observe the way you talk to your spouse or children, they may think, “What’s the point of Christianity?  They are not any better off than me.”

But if they see you showing grace, forgiving others, changing the conversation instead of participating in gossip, being patient, kind and gentle  to your spouse or children.....If they see you acknowledge your shortfalls but constantly work to make some progress….Or if they see you do something nice for someone else that really is inconvenient for you….well, they just may see how beautiful this Christianity thing is.

God is not so concerned with what you say or how many scripture verses you can quote.  He doesn’t care how eloquent you are.  God is concerned about how you treat other people—those other human beings, who have been made in His image.  

It’s the walk, not the talk.

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Philemon 1:6