Friday, January 30, 2009

Camouflaged Christians

My husband loves guns and one of the activities we enjoy doing together is target shooting. So we found it interesting the other night when The History Channel had a documentary on challenging shots. It was amazing to see the skill at which some marksman can hit a target! One portion of the show was about the sharp shooter school that trains those will skillful eyes and trigger fingers. It showed how these guys go through weeks of learning how to take out a target from hundreds of yards, all the while making themselves hidden. These guys were trained on how to put on camouflaged makeup and how to use their surroundings to "blend in". It even showed how they were taken to a forest with a gun, then told to disappear. These sharp shooters could be next to you, and you would never know it.

I wonder how many people I encounter on a daily basis who would have no clue that I'm a Christian? Do I blend in to my surroundings? When I open my mouth and speak to the girl in the check-out line, do I sound like everyone else? When I talk to the man who takes my groceries out every week, does he know I'm different than the other people he's helped who have just turned their nose up at him? What about that kid that cut me off in traffic and pulled out in front of me, almost making me have a wreck with my 3 children in the back seat? Did he see the anger on my face or was he able to tell I'm a Christian?

Proverbs 14:25 says, "A truthful witness saves lives, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful." When we aren't being true to living the Christ life, not operating in the Spirit, then we are being deceitful and we aren't being true to who God created us to be. Instead, we become like our surroundings, blending in, no different than anyone else in a world where people are begging for authenticity. The Bible says we have been "set apart", not made to do, act and speak like everyone else (Leviticus 20:24).

Don't be a camouflaged Christian.

1 comment:

Barbara said...

Haven't checked in for a while. Love the new blog look and picture of all of you. Can you imagine how non Christians live in a daily world? I can't! I get such enjoyment from "cheering" up someone at the checkout line or just speaking to a child whose being rowdy. Those things are so easy and take little time and no money to do. It always brings a smile and usually two people feel good. :)