Let’s face it most Christians have been pretty messed up for thousands of years. We all know why of course and that is because our human nature is bad/evil.
Some non-Christians believe we’re two-faced because they don’t see how we’re any different from them and some of this is our fault which I’ll get to in a moment. Unfortunately a lot of the negative
feelings towards us from non-Christians are due to misunderstandings. They don’t know that we go to church because we know we’re messed up and need help. Instead they think we believe we’re “Holier than Thou” and look down upon them. I believe this particular issue is difficult to overcome because these perceptions have been around forever but there are certainly things we can do to show we’re different in a good way.
As you know, we’re called to be in the world but not of the world so this requires us to be different in various ways. The question is how can we be different? How can we shine our light in some way to stand out and make a positive difference? How can we show non-Christians that becoming a Christian is a good thing? In sales we termed this: “What’s in it for me?” Meaning we had to figure out how we could meet a buyer’s need before we could sell anything. It does feel a bit strange looking at it this way since we’re talking about Christianity, but isn’t this exactly what Jesus did? He was effective because he ministered/met peoples’ needs.
These of course are only my opinions but first of all I think we need to have a positive attitude regardless of the circumstances. The world isn’t positive, so this is a great way to be different.
People will see this in us and want some of it. Some people will even ask you how you can keep a cheerful countenance during such difficult times which will completely open up the door for you to tell them where your joy comes from. You might lose your positive attitude at home and be all frustrated about your situation but do your best to put on a brave face when you walk out that door or you’ll miss a great chance to minister.
The bottom line is that we must bear spiritual fruit that people can see. We all know the fruits of the spirit include: love, peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, patience, faithfulness, self-control, etc. We may know this but do with live this? Do you consider most of the world living the above attributes or do consider them as being exceptions to the norm?
With the above in mind we know exactly how we can be different from the rest of the world; we can be effective in the world but not of it. Next we need to figure out how we can bear the above mentioned fruit. I don’t believe we can do a very good job of forcing ourselves to be loving, kind, etc. I consider these things kind of hard to fake it until you make it like some things can be.
Because of our personality types some of these things are easier to do than others. My problem is that some of these things come natural to me but I sometimes blow it when the going gets rough.
This is where the Holy Spirit comes in; I think we sometimes forget this powerful force we have within us. Having been born into sin the fruits of the spirit are out of our reach but they’re not out of reach of the Holy Spirit.
The key for us is to invoke the Spirit. I don’t know about you but if I don’t pray daily for help I usually end up over my head. The Holy Spirit is just waiting for us to ask for help no matter what our problem is.
I’ll wrap up here since I don’t like these blogs to be too long. There are so many other things I could have brought up in reference to Christians being different from the world. I guess it all boils
down to this, if the people we work with don’t have a clue we’re Christians, I’d say we’re like a useless tree which bears no fruit. Jesus didn’t have kind words about barren trees!
Some non-Christians believe we’re two-faced because they don’t see how we’re any different from them and some of this is our fault which I’ll get to in a moment. Unfortunately a lot of the negative
feelings towards us from non-Christians are due to misunderstandings. They don’t know that we go to church because we know we’re messed up and need help. Instead they think we believe we’re “Holier than Thou” and look down upon them. I believe this particular issue is difficult to overcome because these perceptions have been around forever but there are certainly things we can do to show we’re different in a good way.
As you know, we’re called to be in the world but not of the world so this requires us to be different in various ways. The question is how can we be different? How can we shine our light in some way to stand out and make a positive difference? How can we show non-Christians that becoming a Christian is a good thing? In sales we termed this: “What’s in it for me?” Meaning we had to figure out how we could meet a buyer’s need before we could sell anything. It does feel a bit strange looking at it this way since we’re talking about Christianity, but isn’t this exactly what Jesus did? He was effective because he ministered/met peoples’ needs.
These of course are only my opinions but first of all I think we need to have a positive attitude regardless of the circumstances. The world isn’t positive, so this is a great way to be different.
People will see this in us and want some of it. Some people will even ask you how you can keep a cheerful countenance during such difficult times which will completely open up the door for you to tell them where your joy comes from. You might lose your positive attitude at home and be all frustrated about your situation but do your best to put on a brave face when you walk out that door or you’ll miss a great chance to minister.
The bottom line is that we must bear spiritual fruit that people can see. We all know the fruits of the spirit include: love, peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, patience, faithfulness, self-control, etc. We may know this but do with live this? Do you consider most of the world living the above attributes or do consider them as being exceptions to the norm?
With the above in mind we know exactly how we can be different from the rest of the world; we can be effective in the world but not of it. Next we need to figure out how we can bear the above mentioned fruit. I don’t believe we can do a very good job of forcing ourselves to be loving, kind, etc. I consider these things kind of hard to fake it until you make it like some things can be.
Because of our personality types some of these things are easier to do than others. My problem is that some of these things come natural to me but I sometimes blow it when the going gets rough.
This is where the Holy Spirit comes in; I think we sometimes forget this powerful force we have within us. Having been born into sin the fruits of the spirit are out of our reach but they’re not out of reach of the Holy Spirit.
The key for us is to invoke the Spirit. I don’t know about you but if I don’t pray daily for help I usually end up over my head. The Holy Spirit is just waiting for us to ask for help no matter what our problem is.
I’ll wrap up here since I don’t like these blogs to be too long. There are so many other things I could have brought up in reference to Christians being different from the world. I guess it all boils
down to this, if the people we work with don’t have a clue we’re Christians, I’d say we’re like a useless tree which bears no fruit. Jesus didn’t have kind words about barren trees!
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