24-7 Faith

Everyday someone disappoints. Someone is dishonest. A friend uses foul language. A co-worker helps himself to the office supplies and takes them home. A respected leader is caught in an affair or in a financial scandal. It happens all the time. In fact, I have come to expect it. I am no longer surprised when someone who appears to be honest and upright takes a stumble. I am pleasantly overcome with joy when people lives as they say.

We live in a world that is filled with hypocrisy. Attorneys are famously used as the butt of many jokes about the lack of integrity that Americans have. But we also believe that business people are dishonest. I have come to the conclusion that a doctor who is concerned about me as a patient is the exception rather than the rule. More often than not, a physician would not recognize me on the street without the assistance of that folder with all my medical information.

The bigger problem in this situation, however, is not that people do bad things. It is not even that people are pretty bad. What makes this problem so terrible is that we have all come to accept this as the way things are.

And church people are the worst. They pretend to be holy and spiritual for a couple of hours each week. But get them away from church, or on any day but Sunday, and we learn that Christians are too often just like everyone else. They screw up. Worse still, they don't seem to care that they screw up.

But wouldn't a true Christian, a true follower of Jesus, be consistent in belief and lifestyle? I mean, doesn't it stand to reason if you should behave a certain way on Sunday that you should behave the same way on Tuesday? And if you don't use vulgar language at church, shouldn't you avoid using it at work, or the ball game, or anywhere else?

I believe that all people are called by God to be 24-7 Christians. We are to do the work of Christ every moment of every day. Our lives should be a constant reminder of the love of Jesus to everyone around us.

And our churches should produce people who live consistently what they believe. They should be examples good works and mercy to other institutions and programs in our communities. They should be welcoming, healing places where all people can experience the touch and love of God. That is the church I want to be a part of. That is the kind of Christian I want to be.