There’s no doubt that Christianity and the Church are currently experiencing our greatest crisis of credibility since the middle ages. We have people in various parts of the world killing each other on the grounds of their particular version of Christianity. We have the churches split into countless different denominations, even varieties of denominations. We have ministers and priests in gaol for sexual abuse of parishioners and even children. We have church leaders who question the very basics of the Christian faith. And on top of all that there’s the pervasive view in our culture at the moment that any type of spirituality is OK. It doesn’t matter what sort of spirituality it is. All roads lead to Rome, as it were! So we shouldn’t worry about convincing others about our personal beliefs. Leave them to believe whatever they want, it won’t matter. And we end up with both a crisis of credibility in the wider community and a crisis of confidence within our own ranks.
So we have a problem if we’re to do our job as a church, to proclaim the gospel to those millions who have never heard it. We need to plug the gaps in our credibility if we’re to be heard and taken seriously. And it seems to me that the place we have to start is with our own credibility. The church will only ever regain its credibility if the world sees Christians behaving credibly. To put it a different way, we’ll only be listened to if people perceive us as people of integrity.
So where do we start in thinking about how to live credibly as Christians? I’ve thought about this for a bit over the last few weeks, not to mention earlier in the year when I first planned this series and it seems to me that one of the best places to start is with the instructions Jesus gave to his disciples in the sermon on the mount. Now you’ll be pleased to know that we’re not going to look at all of the sermon on the mount today. There’s more than that to look at, but it might be worth reading it through during the week, to see the sorts of things Jesus talked about as he taught his disciples how to live lives of integrity as God’s people.
But for now, let’s just concentrate on the first 10 verses of ch5. What are the sorts of characteristics that might mark out a Christian as a person of integrity, or that might lend us a credibility that we wouldn’t otherwise have.
We’ll be poor in spirit. That is we’ll have a humility about us that says that we’re not the centre of the universe. And we’re not islands. We don’t think we can just do it our way. Rather we’ll be people who acknowledge our need of others, our need to be part of a community of believers. Our need for the power of God to overcome the difficulties that life brings.
We’ll be among those who mourn. I guess we need to think about that on a number of levels. We’ll mourn over the suffering we see around us; over the brokenness we see in our world; over the helplessness of people who are lost and without hope beyond this world. But we’ll also mourn over our own spiritual failings, our inability to please God. And as we mourn, we’ll begin to see how the gospel deals with our failure by wiping it out. We’ll see how the gospel offers people a new hope; a new source of comfort, because it shows that God is still in control of our world, as out of control as it might seem at times.
We’ll be meek. Not weak. That’s not at all the meaning of meekness. Rather someone who’s meek has strength that’s under control. The image is of a quarterhorse or a battle charger that responds instantly to its master’s commands. So we’ll be people who are under the control of God, who respond to his leading and prompting. Who are self-disciplined rather than self-willed.
We’ll hunger and thirst for righteousness. Let’s face it, at times in this world you could die of thirst waiting for righteous outcomes. But we’ll be people who protest when we see the unrighteous prosper and the righteous put down. We’ll support those who work for worthy causes. We’ll encourage governments and policy makers to make just laws and regulations. We’ll vote for politicians who are people of integrity, whose policies lead to just outcomes for everyone in the community.
And we’ll be people who show righteousness in our lives, even at the risk of persecution (v10). Some of you will have heard the story of Gibbo, a man who worked for Gordon Selfridge, the owner of the English department store chain. Soon after he started working for Gordon Selfridge the phone rang. It was someone wanting to talk to Mr Selfridge. Selfridge said, "Tell him I’m out." Gibbo handed him the phone and said "You tell him you’re out." Well, Selfridge was furious. When he got off the phone he began to tear shreds off Gibbo. But Gibbo simply replied, "If I can lie for you, I can lie to you." Needless to say, he ended up being the most trusted person in the firm! That’s integrity in action isn’t it? Mind you, being righteous doesn’t mean being self-righteous. I’m sure we’ve all come across those people who trumpet their righteousness to all and sundry. They’re the sort who give Christians a bad name. But truly righteous people do it unobtrusively yet with sincerity and purpose. As we’ll see in a moment, they do it from their heart.
We’ll be merciful. That is we’ll show mercy to those who are in need. And we’ll respond to the mercy shown to us by God, by the way we offer the same sort of grace and forgiveness to those who have offended us. For us, grace won’t just be a theological category that we can define in fancy words if we try hard enough. It’ll be a way of life, a way of relating to others as a matter of course. Our words and our responses will be characterised by a graciousness that arises out of the mercy and grace of God.
We’ll be pure in heart. Jesus was talking to his disciples one day and he said this (Mat 15:17-20 NRSV) "whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." Jesus realised that a person’s purity depends on what’s at the centre, in the heart. In fact all the other characteristics hang on this one don’t they? What is my heart like? If it’s pure, people will see it in the way I speak, in the things I do, in the places I go, in the way I respond to others.
I doubt that the world is any less pure today than it was 40 years ago, but I can tell you it certainly appears less pure. Selfishness, or self interest is on the increase. Moral standards, externally at any rate, are lower than they used to be. Business ethics is almost a contradiction in terms in many places. These days a verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. So if our hearts are pure what effect will that have on those we come across? They’ll see it, won’t they?
Finally, we’ll be peacemakers. If there’s anything this world needs at the moment it’s peacemakers. Credible Christians are people who seek peace in their relationships; who do their best to mend relationships that are broken; who act as mediators between friends, as dangerous as that may be at times. And of course we’ll manage as we do it, not to be busybodies because we know that busybodies cause trouble rather than reducing it.
So there are 7 characteristics that will help us as followers of Christ to be seen as credible by those around us. But let’s take this a bit further and think about the sort of behaviour that we read about in our first reading, from Eph 4.
There Paul gives some practical suggestions of what credible living might look like within the church. Notice that the context here is our life together. The reason that Paul is teaching this is so that those outside the church will see how we live together and will be persuaded that there’s something in this Christianity business. In other words they’ll see that the Christian message is credible.
So, he says, speak truthfully to each other. If you’re angry that’s OK but don’t let your anger lead you into sin. For example, don’t let it be an excuse for violence, whether physical or verbal. Don’t store your anger away to use at a later date, as a weapon to inflict on someone later. Let it go. Don’t let the sun go down on it. If your anger is lasting longer than a day there may be something wrong. It may be turning into a grudge. Engage in useful work so you can share your earnings with others.
Get rid of unwholesome talk. Instead make sure what comes out of your mouth builds others up according to their needs. One of the great dangers I’ve noticed here at St Theodore’s and I’m sure we’re not alone, is the danger of negative speech. Do you know the sort of thing I mean. Someone’s unhappy with what someone else has done, particularly those in leadership, so they talk about it to others. And what’s the result of that sort of speech? Others begin to look at the church negatively. They begin to have selective vision, only seeing the negative things that have been mentioned, rather than all the good things that are there as well. And of course, if that unwholesome talk is done in the presence of unbelievers what does it do to our credibility as a church? It undermines it, doesn’t it? So make sure that whatever you say results in others being built up and that it’s said for the benefit of the hearers, not their detriment.
And get rid of all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. A long list of related emotions that are counter to the work of the Spirit within us, that he says grieve the Holy Spirit. Instead let’s be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven us. Let’s be imitators of God, as beloved children.
You see if we’re imitators of God, it has to make a difference to the way people see us. God’s love is so different to the way most people live. It’s a sacrificial love, a love that willingly gives up its life for the loved one. It’s a love that forgives rather than holding a grudge. It’s a love that seeks to build up rather than to knock down or to get even.
Of course, as we saw in Matt 5, to be an imitator of God means hearts that are pure and that will result in lives that are pure. Our lives will be characterised by sexual purity: no immorality, obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking. That’s a word to our age isn’t it? We’ll exhibit material purity: we’ll be free of greed. We’ll be generous with our material wealth.
He sums all of this up by encouraging us to live as children of light, having nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness. When you walk into a room, is it as though you’ve brought the sun in with you? Some people are like that aren’t they? There’s something about their character that just lights up the room. We should be praying and practising to be people like that.
Now before we stop, I want us to think about why this is so important. Why does it matter whether or not we’re credible as Christians? If we accepted the attitude of the world it wouldn’t matter at all. As long as we’re happy being Christians it doesn’t matter what others think about us, does it? That’s what the world would say. But let me ask you, why did Jesus call disciples to follow him? Why did God establish the Church? What was Jesus last command to his disciples? Wasn’t it "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you?" This is what the church is here for. To make disciples of all nations. Listen to what God tells us in Eph 3: "This grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Eph 3:8-11 NRSV) Here’s the reason we exist as a church: so that the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known. What do you think we should be doing as a church? What should our primary focus be? Some would say our primary focus should be looking after those we have among us already. We should certainly be doing that. But can I suggest that nowhere in Scripture will you find that given as a reason for the Church existing. Some will say we’re here to glorify God, to offer him worship. Again, that is certainly true. God made human beings to worship him. But again that isn’t the primary reason God established the Church. No, the Church is here to point people to God. To make disciples of all nations. To bring the saving message of Jesus Christ to those who are lost without him.
A leading business man in the US, Karl Singer has suggested that there are two things that any business must do if it wants to succeed over the long haul: Give great service to its present customers and constantly acquire new customers. Now that’s a businessman speaking and he has no mandate from God to grow his clientele. It’s just good common sense. But we have more than common sense telling us what we should be doing. We have the words of Christ telling us what we’re here for. We have God’s word telling us that the purpose of the church is to show to the world how good God is; how good it is to be part of his kingdom. We have God’s word telling us that God doesn’t desire the death of sinners but that they should repent and live; that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.
That’s why living credible lives both as individuals and as a Church is so important. It’s actually central to our reason for being. In Colossians 3 we read: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; ... 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. If God’s word really did dwell in us in all its richness, what would our lives look like?
They’d be lives of integrity, lives that reflected the truth of what we believe. Lives that commended the gospel to others, even before we expressed that gospel in words.
Let’s pray that when people find out that we’re Christians they might see us as credible witnesses of the grace and love of Christ.
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