So I've recently started doing an in-depth study of Romans, and today, while reading Chapter 2, God really hit me with some tough stuff. In the latter part of the chapter, Paul condemns the Jews for the way they've been acting. The reason? Hypocrisy. Shameless, God-dishonoring hypocrisy. It would have been easy to just look at the passage and think, "Man, those Jews in Rome were screwed up," instead of actually trying to apply it to my life. But God had some stuff he wanted to teach me, so here's what I got:
The Jews, like us Christians today, had been entrusted with the truth and knowledge about God. How often we just assume that is something that we are entitled to, when, in fact, we are the chosen messengers of the Most High God: the lone truth-bearers in a lost world. That's a pretty big deal, no matter how you look at it. Also, just like the Jews Paul is addressing, God has given us a message to give to the world. For the Jews, it was the Law of God, for us, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Up to this point in the passage, everything was going alright. I mean, how much better can it be? We are the messengers from the Almighty God with a message that will save those who believe it from eternal damnation. What an amazing privilege! But here's where things go wrong. Though we'll sell the message all day about how God will save people if they turn from their sins and follow Him, we don't seem to believe that ourselves. This leaves the world telling us the cliche "Practice what you preach!" And most often we more than deserve such a comment. We might as well be spiritual "lifeguards" who jump in to save the drowning sinner, when we cannot even swim ourselves.
Whether it be our speech, our conduct, our dress, or our preferred entertainment, most Christians (myself included) are not doing the best we could to be different. Not different in the sense of awkward or shrinking back if someone curses, but different because we look like Christ. This doesn't mean that we're always happy - the Bible tells us to weep with those who weep, and that there is a time for mourning - but we should be the ones with our heads on straight. We should know that even though we don't have anything figured out, we rest in the God who does. How amazing of a witness it always is when someone is going through a tragedy, and instead of complaining or pouting, they praise God, for His plans are always better. Our purpose in life is to be satisfied in God and to glorify Him, but, sadly, we often think that that purpose only applies on Sundays.
Salt is salty all the time. It is never tasteless if it truly is salt. Light is always bright. It is never darkness. The problem that we Christians often face is that we are content to be a candle, when God wants us to be a blazing star reflecting His glory and the truth of the gospel. Let's strive to be the brightest reflections of God possible, because His desire for us is indeed that we are sanctified in order to give Him all the glory.
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