I have noticed that lately there are many, many friends posting their status as "re-post" if you are a Christian or "re-post" if you love God....with the last part of the messsage saying you are being tested, and that if you do not re-post you are denying Christ. The actual scripture from Matthew 10 reads, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."
The problem I have is that in not re-posting this, I am in no way denying my Savior, and re-posting or not re-posting in no way reflects my relationship with Christ.
I believe firmly that our relationship with Christ will be evident in the way we treat others. They will know we are Christians by our love for one another, not by my facebook status. I can SAY I am a Christian until the cows come home, but if my life shows no evidence of Christ living through me, then I am nothing more than a fake.
The real test of my Christianity is not in the decision to re-post a facebook status. The real test comes daily, (Sadly, I fail many, many times, but the good news is that I now recognize these failures almost instantaneously, so hopefully the failures will cease to occur.) and it looks a little more like this: Did I see someone in need and help them - even if I did not feel like it? Did I see someone broken down on the side of the road and stop to see if they needed help - even if I was in a hurry? Did I show kindness to the very grouchy customer when I wanted to shoot back with a little sarcasm? Did I give my last dollar to the man on the street, or the lady in line ahead of me who was short of cash and would have to put an item she needed back on the shelf? THOSE are what my daily tests look like.
When Christianity is real, it becomes clear very quickly that it is NOT about me. It is about the other person. The person with whom I am face to face in the moment. What is THEIR current need, and how am I able to help? EVEN IF, or better yet, ESPECIALLY IF it "puts me out."
The list of the daily tests of our Christianity are ENDLESS. Scripture is pretty clear though, that as Christians we are to be active. We are to show love. We are to DO. We are to help. We are to BE love. "But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?" James 2:20.
In Matthew chapter 7, we are told that "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits." Our actions of love and kindness to others are our fruits. They demonstrate our love for Christ. His cup runneth over, as should ours. If we want others to know we are Christians, they will see us in action. They will see our love for others in all we do.It will not matter what our facebook status says.....
They will know we are Christians by our love, and we will not have to utter a single a word to convince them.
