I remember getting dressed for church as a kid. I didn’t pick out my best pair of jeans. I just knew better. Sunday was for getting dressed up. For some it still is. Not in the literal sense of the word, but, much as a superhero does, they put on their church costume and assume a different identity. SuperChristian.
Comedian Bill Engvall has a routine about stupid people who don’t realize they’re stupid. He says that they should just wear a sign that says “I’m Stupid” so that we could easily recognize them and know that we couldn’t rely on them. I think we need a similar sign for some Christians. We should have SuperChristian signs that are worn to identify the ones who are dressed up. You know the ones. They’re the ones who talk about God’s goodness and kindness on Sunday and then complain all week about their lot in life. How they don’t know if they’re going to make it or not. The “what if-ers”. What if they lay me off? What if the diagnosis is not good? What if….? They should have a sign.
We also have the incognito Christians. At church, they praise the loudest, they pray the loudest, they are always visible. But at work, they don’t even pray over their lunch at the cafeteria. No one would even know that they are a Christian unless they went to church with them. They should have a sign too.
Of course, we have the opposite people as well. Blenders. These are the ones who blend in at church. When they attend. You may think they are a first-time guest because you’ve never seen them at church before. But they’ve been coming for 12 years, off and on. But at work, they have Thomas Kincade screen savers on their computer, the Bible Verse A-Day calendar hanging at their desk and an open Bible beside their phone. They can be seen praying at lunch, before work and even during work. Some think they are sleeping, but they’re really praying. Some pray a good 3-4 hours a day on the job. When anyone has a problem, they go to these people. Because they have an open Bible on their desk. They don’t read it, but it’s there. These people definitely need a sign.
Why do we feel the need to pretend? I think it’s because we’ve been conditioned to pretend. There is a stereotype that we have bought into. At the risk of sounding racist, it would be like expecting every person of Italian descent to walk around with a bowl of pasta saying”At’s a matta you? Why you no feel good?” Or expecting every white person to drink martinis and hang out at the country club. Or expecting everyone from West Virginia to have a family tree that doesn’t fork. See, we don’t expect people to act like their stereotypes. Unless they’re Christians. Then we expect them to look, act and talk a certain way. Why is that?
As Christians, we should be different from non-Christians. But that doesn’t mean that we have to dress weird, or talk weird or be weird. It just means that we believe in a God that we can’t see, but we know is there. That’s different. It means that we believe that God’s Son came to earth and paid the penalty for a crime that He didn’t commit and because He did that, we are now considered to be Children of God as well. We will never die and live forever with God where we will be positioned as the leaders of a new earth that is ruled by the God we believe in. If that doesn’t make you different nothing will. We are different. It’s because we believe in God that we don’t get stressed out by things that others do. We believe that our God loves us and will take care of us in spite of our circumstances. That’s different. We don’t get angry at others because we believe that our God told us to love our enemies. We still have enemies, but we don’t treat them the way others treat them. We’re kind to our enemies because that’s what God told us to do. That’s different. We talk to a God that we can’t see, asking Him for things that we believe He will do for us and for others. That’s different. We don’t fear death because we don’t believe that death is the end. We believe that death is merely the beginning of our new life with God. That’s different. We are different.
Too often, we try to show others how different we are. That’s when it goes from different to “different”. We pray loudly in front of others so they will know that we are “different”. The Bible tells us in Matthew 6 not to do this. Those that do should have a sign. We plaster our workspace with all kinds of Christian paraphernalia so others will know how “different” we are. There’s nothing wrong with being public with your faith, but you should be warned. If your public actions do not back up your public displays, you need a sign, because you make Christianity look bad by professing something publicly that you do not practice publicly. We moan and complain to others about our jobs, our spouse and our children. Then we offer to pray for others who face difficulties. If God won’t listen to you about your problems, why would I trust Him to listen to you about mine? You should just wear a sign.
I think it’s time for Christians to live like Christians, not just act like Christians. We are Children of the Almighty God. If you really believe that, what would that look like? Do you really believe that God is capable of handling any situation that you may encounter? Do you really believe that God loves you? The Bible says that those who have faith must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him. Do you have faith? Do you not only believe that God exists, but that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him? According to the Bible, you must do both. We tend to believe that He exists, but we’re on our own until the sweet by and by. If we simply acted like real Christians and not like our stereotype, I believe that evangelism as we know it would cease to exist. Why wouldn’t others want what we have? Love. Joy. Peace. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Who couldn’t use a little more of those things in their lives? That’s what we should live. Instead, what we often show are rules, judgement and general weirdness. It’s time to take off the signs and just live what we believe. Not show what we believe. Just live like we believe it. Really believe it. After all, that is what really makes us different in the first place.