Christians can either make or break the face of Christianity in the outside world. In our generation, we may not agree with it, but the world looks at Christianity as a brand of religion; like a brand of clothing, or shoes, or any material with “covered with spiritual icing.” The world has been sinking deep in this mindset time immemorial. Who would rescue the world from this thinking? In John 3:16, we read, how much God the Father loved the world. He loved the world so much, that He sent the Savior Jesus in bodily form. Jesus who is God opted to be born in a manger, grew up like a normal kid and a normal teenager until His time comes to make Himself public. He was hanged on a cross like a criminal to die a horrible death, because there was no one qualified to absolve the sins of the world, except the BLOOD OF JESUS. His sacrificial death is the only way for humans to make peace with God.
While the world reduced Christianity as just another brand of religion, Christianity to those who are being saved is the power of Christ, the power of the risen Saviour, the power of God! In Romans 1:16, Paul took pride in is Christianity. For Him, Christianity is not something for him to be ashamed, the message of Christ is not something he would hide and deny. Why would Paul do that when he knew that the power of God is in the message of Christ. People have been searching and longing for power, they are power-hungry and you could even smell it from their conversations. They want to be the best, the fastest, the cleverest, all for the sake of power! Lucifer, the most beautiful angel of God, became power-hungry, that he led a rebellion in heaven! The Bible says, that power is not found anywhere on earth, and in anything the earth offers! The real and legitimate power is the power of God. And this power of God is found in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour!
Beloved, Christianity is more than a brand of religion. Christianity is God’s love wrapped in the person of Jesus Christ. Christianity is Christ, the living God working in and through you. Christianity is Christ uniting the world to God by eliminating the power of sin and evil out of our hearts, having our hearts cleansed, purified, sprinkled, and washed by the blood of Jesus!
The Bible says, that we all have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory. But the same Bible also says, that, the wages of sin is death BUT, that death that is more than physical does not hold the last says. THE FREE GIFT OF GOD DOES! There are many gifts that you can expect to get this Christmas, BUT, receiving the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus is PRICELESS. It is what you have to pray and aim for!
And my fellow Christians, we have been commissioned to continue the work Christ, that of saving souls. Do not ever forget the truth of Christianity. Make Christianity looks good on you.
Be gracious and be attractive inside and out because inside of you lives the king of glory, the God who is good and is great in all beauty and splendor there is that you and I can imagine. In all the beauty and splendor there is that the human mind cannot comprehend. Advertise the Lord Jesus and everything that Jesus represents and stand for!
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders. The world is looking authenticity, genuineness, and the heartfelt tenderness of God, displayed by those who say they are Christians. The Scripture tells us Christians to be it and not just in it!
The Apostle wrote to Colossae to make the most of every opportunity to be a channel of encouragement to the all, in any every situations and circumstance. The Apostle understood the power of spoken words. Our conversations, therefore, should be:
• be full of grace
Free of blame, judgment, and accusations but filled/flooded with the nature and character of Jesus –
love, grace, mercy, and a faith challenge to abandon the sickening way of living into Jesus- way of life with true life!
Offer them Meaningful conversation - Jesus and the Samaritan woman - a sinner/ a forgiven saint who felt freedom from the shackles of her past sins into being a witness of God’s grace.
Eph 4:29–32 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
The grace and mercy of God are not like a machine that you can switch on and off. The grace and mercy of God do not switch off when we finish Sunday. The grace and mercy of God are on all the time from Monday to Sunday. He is gracious and mercies and so we are people of who knows how to be gracious and merciful to ourselves and to others from Monday to Sunday. You wear it beautifully under all circumstances because Jesus is in you by the Holy Spirit. So you’re kind and generous with your words, words that are sincere, genuine, and authentic. When you speak, you aim to relive, revive, rekindle hope, faith, and love that they see Jesus in a renewed lens of grace and mercy.
Let our conversations be:
Seasoned with salt - Salt had three uses at that time. It could preserve food, “sterilize” a food (antiseptic), or season food. Here Paul took the last meaning. Conversation was to be seasoned, i.e., acceptable and inoffensive
“Salty” conversations for a Christian leave a good taste in your mouth and those whom you are talking.
Mk 9:49–50 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
Example: Jesus came unannounced in Zacchaeus life to give him a good taste of the Saviour, stirred Zacchaeus with an intense desire to change his way of life and to help others preserve their lives by the redemption power of Jesus! What a way to live our days on earth with eternal purpose! That’s what Jesus wants you and I to enjoy - a Christianity that goes beyond the superficial and one goes deep down into the inner layers of our character and nature in Christ. That we truly reflect the radiance and the glory of that baby in the manger 2000 years ago.
In terms of making the most of the time to win unsaved people to the Lord. Let our conversations be full of wisdom. Ephesians 5:16 says these days are evil and we don’t have much time left to lead people to the Lord! To help them find hope, love, and faith in the real Savior. People have always have an opinion of people. They define you based on your life principles and values. Are you a friend? Can you be a real friend? Are you not fake, are you a real person to them?
Example: Allan jokes around the house a lot. He is the author of laughter at home. One of his many jokes goes like this. When we fight, let us keep the volume of our shouting to the lowest, like a whisper. So, people will not know that we are fighting. Of course, he was joking.
(Ecc. 10:12) The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up
Divine wisdom results in a positive witness. We are a people with hope…Let us use words of wisdom to defend our faith in Christ in love.
1 Pe 3:14–17 … sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Paul challenged us children of God in Eph. 5:1-2, “let us be imitators of God. Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
In CLOSING, I GIVE YOU… Col. 3:15-17 – The Message
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives-words, actions. Whatever – be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God for the Father every step of the way.”
MAKE CHRISTIANITY LOOKS GOOD ON YOU! AMEN.
