Who's Watching?

I had it on my to-do list to sit down and write this morning but had no idea what to talk about. I opened my Bible for my morning reading and went through 2 Corinthians 6, and verses 3-6 really struck me.

"3 We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love." (NLT)

This is Paul writing to the church in Corinth, but it still applies to us as Christians living in the modern world. People are watching us, how are we living? Is it reflective of the truth we preach? This is something that I strive so hard to practice well, but it's a constant battle between flesh and spirit. Why is this so important? So our message has meaning; So when we tell people the truth of the gospel we've got some credibility behind our actions. It's also a great opportunity to love and live like Jesus.

In Mark 14 we see Jesus being falsely accused by the Sanhedrin after his betrayal and arrest. Verses 55 and 56 tell us that the high council was trying to find evidence against Jesus, but they couldn't! Every false testimony brought against Him contradicted another. These false accusations and lies did not line up with the actions and character of Jesus. Despite their efforts, the false witnesses could not find any legitimate fault with Jesus (refer back to 2 Corinthians 6:3). No one was a better example of 2 Corinthians 6 than Jesus. His endurance shows us the important reality of living pure and blameless, patiently enduring troubles and being patient as we trust the Holy Spirit.

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So how can we apply this to our own lives? I say start small, then go bigger (the key is to never stop!). It may be making a conscious choice in shifting your language or starting healthy daily habits like spending time with the Lord to help align our hearts with His. These little changes will start to foster a greater heart change. We are never promised an easy life as a Christian, in fact, Jesus warns us in John 15:8 that "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." (ESV) However, we are also encouraged in Romans 5 that we can rejoice in our suffering because "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5, ESV)

So keep running your race and run it well. Don't let the hardships pull you into a life of inconsistency and lukewarm Christianity. Remember what Paul told the church at Corinth and what Jesus showed us - how we live matters. People are watching and I pray they notice a significant and eternity-changing difference in us.