Dirty Mirrors

Often the simplest of questions is the hardest to answer: What does it mean when someone says they are a Christian?

Well let's look at some other descriptors of people. What does it mean when I say I am an American?

• From America
• Having the characteristics of an American

People can tell we are from based on our appearance, actions, language. There are things we say and do that identify us as being American (ie. blue jeans, apple pie, freedom, obesity). There are also things that we don’t say or do because they are not acceptable as Americans (ie. sealing a handshake deal by spitting in their palms, polygamy, restricting rights of women.

Why don't we compromise our American beliefs / customs? – because they have been ingrained in us, practiced so often and so repeatedly that they have become part of who we are.

What about our faith? Let’s go back to our original question. What does it mean to be a Christian?

• From Christ, of Christ, having the characteristics of Christ
• American Heritage definition: Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.

How many of us live up to the standard Christ placed before us? We need to think about what we are doing, saying, displaying in light of our Maker, Savior, Lord. Is what we are doing – Un-Christian?

I often end my prayers by asking that we be a reflection, a mirror of Christ to all we encounter. Every time we compromise our Christian beliefs or go a little off His path in our actions, thoughts or words, we tarnish our mirror a bit. When people look at us, they should see Christ in us and through us.

"And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more." – 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

We all fail at this every day, but God is gracious to forgive us. The key is that we are striving to be more Christian, not more worldly. Our world is getting increasingly anti-Christian and as we saw at our last meeting, there are forces of darkness that are trying to get us to compromise our faith more and more each day. Christians are going to be more separate and ostracized than ever before in the coming days. We need to stand firm in our beliefs, pray without ceasing and lean on each other for support.

We need to be accountable for our actions so our mirrors will be as clean as possible. We need to agree as a group to be accountable to each other and be willing to share what struggles we are having. Most importantly, we need to agree to be praying for each other.

Find someone today that will help you check your mirror every day.