Centuries ago, St. Francis of Assisi said we should witness for Christ a thousand times a day and occasionally use words. His clear message was that Christians should be different from those around them, and this difference should be tangible and recognizable—not because we are religious—but because we are Christ-like.
His admonition was for all of us—not just for a few saintly, otherworldly believers. According to St. Francis, being Christ-like should be our normal Christian lifestyle. Sainthood wasn’t meant to be a lofty, unattainable goal reserved for the super spiritual—people like Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. It was meant for all of us.
Unfortunately, this isn’t most people’s experience. Instead, our lives are far too similar to those who have never accepted Christ. In fact, there is very little empirical difference between them and us. They worry; we worry. They try to gain value and meaning by obtaining the approval of others; so do we. Often, we seek approval from the same people, using exactly the same methods to acquire it.
Non-believers are tormented by their past and by their unresolved issues; so are people of faith. Non-Christians can’t escape their feelings of failure; neither can we. We often share the same sense of loneliness and alienation as those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Surveys from over 10,000 Christians indicate that more than 70 percent struggle from loneliness, precisely like non-believers do. Non-Christians are unforgiving; so are we, despite our steadfast insistence to the contrary. When non-Christians awaken each morning, anger, fear, and frustration greet them—just like it does for most who profess faith in Christ.
The list could go on and on, but I believe the point has been made. We like to tell others how different we are, especially with our canned three-minute testimonials but, based on the evidence, it simply isn’t true. Despite our protestations that our lives are qualitatively better, we are doing little more than making a distinction without a difference.
This is why non-Christians routinely call us hypocrites, which is accurate more often than we care to admit. We testify that we are different, pretentiously insisting that we are. But for most of us, our behavior simply does not match up with our confident assertion that we are experiencing the “abundant life.”
Leave a comment