Strong Words

But what if I should be guilty of the same dreadful sin as Judas, that son of perdition? I have been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; I am a member of His visible church; I sit at the Communion table: All these are so many kisses of my lips. Am I sincere in them? If not, I am a base traitor. Do I live in the world as carelessly as others do, and yet make a profession of being a follower of Jesus? Then I am exposing my faith to ridicule and leading men to speak evil of the very name Christian.

Surely if I act inconsistently, I am a Judas, and it were better for me if I had never been born. Dare I hope that I am innocent in this matter? Then, O Lord, keep me so. O Lord, make me sincere and true. Preserve me from every false way. Never let me betray my Savior. I do love You, Lord Jesus, and though I often grieve You, I still desire to remain faithful even unto death. O God, forbid that I should be a high-sounding professor and then fall at last into the lake of fire because I betrayed my Master with a kiss.

C.H. Spurgeon

Since my conversion, my heart has been grieved and my understanding limited in terms of how it is that professing Christians think very little of how their lives reflect, or do not reflect, the reality of the power of Christ within them. Regardless of the struggles we as Christians may have in living for the Glory of God; should not our primary motivation for living lives in obedience to Him be the honor of His Name?

My desire to live in obedience to Him has always been primarily motivated by two things and those two things are always on the forefront of my mind and heart: 1) I must always acknowledge the reality of His presence. Would I do this or that; say this or that; if He were standing right beside me? Well, He is! I fear many do not live in that reality. They do not truly believe that He is real and that He is really present. 2) People will judge Him by what they see in His followers. Even the lost are looking for the reality of Christ. This is so important to understand. Regardless of how I might feel in or about a situation; I am (in essence) representing my Lord to a lost and dying world. Do I make Him look powerless; impotent; ugly or do I make Him look like who He truly is--powerful, Holy, mighty, worthy of praise; beautiful? Do I even care?

I would suggest that when I person wears the name of Christ and openly confesses to be one of His, our motivation, as we live and walk among the unregenerate world, should be that He is pleased and that we are bringing His Name the Honor it is so worthy of. We cannot cause the lost to embrace Him as Lord and Savior; but or deepest desire and constant motivation should be that we not dishonor who He is by the way we live.

A child will wait until his parents are out of the room (or out of town) to engage in a forbidden behavior. Our Lord is never out of the room and He is never out of town! Do we truly live in that reality? I say that many who call themselves Christians, do not. A child who loves and respects his father cares more about his father's reputation then his own sinful desires. Do we truly care how we represent our Lord? I say that many who wear His name, do not.

What an awesome responsibility it is to publicly wear the name of Christ! Let us never take that for granted and let us never think to lightly about this.