Practicing What We Preach

Secondly, often you can be more effective in sharing the Gospel of Jesus with other people if you are not receiving money to do so. I think some people find it easy to ignore what a pastor says because they know it is his job to say something religious. Folks may assume that the words about the Gospel that come out of my mouth are just that, just words, because after all, I get paid to talk about those things. They can't say that, however, when lay people start talking about the Lord. As you tell other people about Jesus Christ and seek to persuade them to receive Him as Lord and Savior, nobody can say, "You are only telling me this because it is your job," or "Of course, you are going to say that, that is what you get paid to do." Not having any money involved takes away one possible obstacle, eliminates one possible excuse, that may keep another person from turning to the Lord. What Paul has written helps me remember that God uses people who are not employed by the church to accomplish great things for His kingdom. John Bunyan, the great Puritan preacher, used to say, "I am a preacher of the Gospel by trade, and a tinker, a fix-it man, to pay the expenses." C. S. Lewis was used greatly by God, not as a pastor, but as an English professor. Oxford University paid his expenses while he volunteered the remainder of his time as an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Friends, you too can serve the Lord while working as a teacher, businessman, clerk, or truck driver to pay the expenses.

OK, now the big lesson: People need to see that we practice what we preach. We have talked about a variety of things today, but we don't want to forget the point of this whole passage. Paul tells the Corinthians of his willingness to serve without being paid, to show them that his commitment to Jesus Christ and his commitment to them is genuine. He not only talks about giving things up for the sake of the Gospel and the sake of other Christians, he actually does it. He practices what he preaches. Friends, we too should be able to tell people, "Look at my life, and you will see that my Christianity is not just a bunch of words. It is what I believe and how I live." We should be able to point to tangible things in our lives which demonstrate that we have indeed experienced God's grace and are a different person because of it. Yes, it is important that we be willing to speak and use words to proclaim the truth about Jesus Christ, but unless we can show people that we practice what we preach, our words are going to be pretty empty.

How can we show people that our faith is real, that we are not hypocrites? Yes, it is important to avoid the negative actions that cause people to think that we are not sincere in our profession of faith. Because Christians are sinners saved by grace, there can indeed be liars, misers, drunks, and adulterers within the church of Jesus Christ. God forgives those sins. But liars, misers, drunks, and adulterers will always be thought of as hypocrites by the watching world. So we do need to avoid those things. But, more importantly, we need some positive attitudes and actions to show that we practice what we preach.