Get Real!
¡§The Challenge to Authentic Christian Living¡¨
Have you noticed how sometimes when you purchase something with a $20 or $50 bill the cashier will often take a marker and draw a line on that bill? They are checking the bill for authenticity? They want to know if it is real or if it is a counterfeit.
I just happen to have one of those markers in my pocket! The way it works is the teller or cashier will make a mark on the bill in question. If the line stays light colored it is probably authentic. If the mark is darker, that bill is considered suspicious.
Have you ever wondered about what would happen if your bill failed the test? I have. Not that I was planning to try and pass any counterfeit money, but I wondered what would happen if I had received counterfeit money and was passing it on unknowingly.
Well I checked it out this week. I was told that whenever a counterfeit bill is found at the bank, a suspicious activity report is filed so that there is a record regarding the incident and the counterfeit money. And of course, the ¡§suspicious¡¨ bill is held by the bank for further investigation and you actually forfeit the ¡§money¡¨ which wasn¡¦t money at all!
Counterfeiting is not just an issue with cash. There are lots of other counterfeits we have to be aware of including clothing, software, pharmaceuticals, watches and more. If you thought you got a great deal on your $50 Rolex, someone needs to break the news that your counterfeit Rolex was only $50. It¡¦s not the real thing! Sorry. ƒ¼
A counterfeit is an imitation of the real thing. We all know about counterfeit money. Some of us are even aware of the possibility of counterfeit jewelry or counterfeit music. But did you know that there are also counterfeit religions? That¡¦s what a cult is. A cult is a counterfeit religion. They use a lot of the same terminology as Christianity, they may look the part on the surface, but they are fake. They are not real. They are an imitation of the real thing.
What can happen with money, with clothes and with clocks, can happen with Christians.
Look what Paul told young Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:1-9 NIV
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
That¡¦s Paul¡¦s way of saying they are counterfeit Christians. They have a form of godliness. They may look good on the surface, but that¡¦s about all there is to it.
On the outside you can barely tell them apart. But on the inside they lack power. It is an issue of a divided heart. They are not fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
In his letter to the church in Galatia Paul outlines the qualities that will be evident in the life of an authentic Christian.
Galatians 5:22-23a NLT
[22] But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control.
Authentic Christians should possess each of these qualities in increasing measure.
Nobody likes a counterfeit. Nobody wants counterfeit money. I am not interested in counterfeit religion. And who wants anything to do with being a counterfeit Christian?
My appeal to every Christian today is to GET REAL! Be authentic! Be genuine. Be what God has called you to be. Don¡¦t settle for being a pale imitation of the ¡§real thing.¡¨ Don¡¦t settle for being a cheap counterfeit. Decide today that when it comes to your faith and when it comes to following Christ, you will in fact be the genuine article. The real deal. Not a fake. Not a facade. Nothing to hide or cover up.
Primary Text:
2 Corinthians 13:5 LB
Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ’s presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren’t at all?
This morning I want you to ask yourself five important questions in order to determine your authenticity as a Christian. Consider it a spiritual check up. Are you who you say you are? Are you truly what you appear to be? To use Paul¡¦s words, do you pass the test? Or are you just pretending when it comes to you walk with Christ?
This is a test between you and the Holy Spirit. I am not here to judge or condemn a soul. My goal is to allow God full access to my heart. I hope you will do the same. Allow the Spirit of God to turn on the searchlight of your soul and be willing to do business on His terms today. Make Psalm 139 your prayer:
Psalm 139:23-24 The Message
Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about;
[24] See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong¡Xthen guide me on the road to eternal life.
1. Am I REAL at HOME?
In recent years the TV cameras have gone into the homes of supposedly ¡§normal¡¨ families in what has come to be known as reality TV.
Well let¡¦s suppose that the cameras have been rolling this past week at your house. Only this time, the cameras were hidden and you didn¡¦t know you were being watched. What could we learn about you as we watch your ¡§real¡¨ life behind close doors?
If we could watch one week of your life on the screen this morning, would your life behind closed doors authenticate what people perceive about you? Would it cause our confidence in you to rise or would we be disappointed in what we would learn?
We¡¦re talking about authenticity. In the home of a truly authentic Christian, surely we would see you pick up your Bible and read it several times throughout the week (hopefully every day). Would we have seen you reading your Bible in the past week?
Here¡¦s a good one! Over the past week, as we watch your life, would we ever see you pray? That seems like a reasonable expectation of an authentic Christian.
What would we see when it comes to interaction with your spouse or children? How about the words you speak? Are they seasoned with love? Would we see and sense that Christ is the center of your household as we watch what goes on at your house? Remember, the picture we see is unedited and uncensored.
If we were to watch your life for an entire week on a hidden camera, what would we learn about you? How do you spend your time behind closed doors? What kinds of things did you watch on television?
Did you rent any movies? What did you read and look at on the Internet? How about your music? Would we be surprised by your listening choices?
You see these are the kinds of things that determine the depth of your spiritual life. It really has little to do with how you look in your Sunday best. It has nothing to do with people¡¦s perceptions when it comes right down to it. And it certainly has very little to do with what we say about ourselves. This is a matter of the heart. Where is your heart? What have you given your heart to? What kind of person are you at home?
2 Corinthians 13:5 LB
Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ’s presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren’t at all?
What does the evidence reveal about you?
2. Am I REAL at WORK?
I can hear some people say, ¡§Oh, Pastor, you don¡¦t know where I work. It is such a wicked place. I¡¦m the only Christian there. Nobody could live this ¡§ideal¡¨ Christian life you¡¦re talking about where I work.¡¨ Oh Really?
Philippians 4:13 NIV
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Matthew 19:26 NIV
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
I am 100% convinced that God can enable you to live the life He has called you to live. God can help you rise above temptation. He can help you avoid the very appearance of evil. He can help you avoid inappropriate relationships. He can clean up your mouth. You can say no when they start telling the dirty jokes. You don¡¦t have to steal things from your employer and don¡¦t try to justify it by thinking they don¡¦t pay you enough or that everyone else is doing it.
I am challenging authentic Christians to live the life you know God is calling you to live. No more excuses and no more playing games. Just ethical, honest Christian living.
And why not stop comparing yourself to anyone else thinking you are just as good as they are? You are not called to compare yourself with any other person. The question is; are you living the life He called you to live? Are you walking in the light? Are you doing what you know is right? Are you real at home? At work?
3. Am I REAL at CHURCH?
People have a tendency to put on not only their ¡§Sunday best ¡§when it comes to clothes for church. They sometimes even put on their ¡§Sunday best¡¨ in terms of behavior too.
But you know, there is nothing worse than an artificial, plastic Christian.
Through the years I have been humbled to see some amazing demonstrations of authentic Christian living in the church. These people truly reflected the image of Christ on a consistent basis. It is incredible to witness!
On the other hand, I have often seen some things out of certain people that were pretty disappointing. Even a 12 year old would look at them and think, how can a Christian do that? How can a Christian say that? How on earth can a Christian act like that? We¡¦ve all seen instances like that and we have all asked those same questions.
But you know, even authentic Christians lose their cool once in a while. They may say or do the wrong thing. An authentic Christian isn¡¦t perfect. They¡¦re real.
But you can learn a lot about their maturity, depth and authenticity by how they respond after an unfortunate instance like that. Do they come back and own their behavior? Do they confess it? Are they remorseful? Do they make amends when it is needed? Or do they just go on their way with no remorse until they blow up the next time?
You see in every church there are at least four groups of people. 1) The spiritually mature. That doesn¡¦t necessarily mean that they are the oldest people in the church and it doesn¡¦t necessarily mean they have been a Christian the longest. The spiritually mature have grown because they have chosen to apply what they learn and their true desire is to be like Jesus.
On the other end of the spectrum there are the 2) spiritually immature. This could be the people who haven¡¦t quite made a profession of faith in Christ yet or perhaps they are just starting out in their walk with Him. We don¡¦t expect them to act like they have been Christians for 50 years. They¡¦re just getting started and it¡¦s fun to see them grow!
There is another group that¡¦s 3) in the middle someplace. They are growing in their faith. I suspect that is where most of us would place ourselves. And that is a good place to be as long as you are learning and growing and becoming more like Christ which is God¡¦s goal for every Christian. He wants you and me to be like Jesus.
I suppose there¡¦s one other group. 4) They are the carnal. They haven¡¦t made a commitment to Christ and they really don¡¦t intend to. We don¡¦t need to talk about them much at this point because they don¡¦t even pretend to be Christian.
The problem is with those of us in the middle or those who most would consider to be spiritually mature at least to some degree. The problem is they can become those plastic people I was talking about. They start going through the motions.
Remember the Fruit of the Spirit that Paul told us about in Galatians 5? He said when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control.
These qualities are the evidence of a Spirit filled Christian. Some may say they are filled with God¡¦s Spirit, but the evidence betrays them.
Somebody says, ¡§Oh, but Pastor. Don¡¦t you know the Bible says we should never judge?¡¨ Actually it doesn¡¦t. If you read those passages you are thinking of, it says we are to judge a righteous judgment. But we are so afraid to say anything is black or white anymore. We don¡¦t want to call anything right or wrong and offend somebody.
Matthew 7:16a NIV
By their fruit you will recognize them.
How do you know what kind of fruit they are bearing if you don¡¦t make a judgment? You have to judge. Is this an apple or is it an orange? That¡¦s a judgment call.
I wonder¡Kwhat kind of fruit is your life bearing these days? Does it point to the fact that you are an authentic Christian at home? How about at work or at church?
2 Corinthians 13:5 LB
Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ’s presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren’t at all?
4. Am I REAL in the COMMUNITY?
What does authentic Christian living look like out in the community? Does it really have to affect your life out on the street? I¡¦m telling you it does if it is real.
How does an authentic Christian act at the customer service desk?
How does an authentic Christian treat their waitress down at the restaurant when the food isn¡¦t cooked just right or it takes a little longer than expected?
Elections Day is coming up. What does it mean to be an authentic Christian on Election Day? Does it make a difference as to whether or not you vote? Is it strictly about political parties and candidates? Where do biblical values come into play? Or do they?
Do you see it? An authentic Christian does not try to compartmentalize his work life from his Christian life. You can¡¦t segregate your private life from your church life. Every single issue, every aspect of life is a part of your faith.
There’s no compartmentalizing of our life to the point where you have a social life and you can do anything you want socially and relating to other people and taking advantage of them. Don¡¦t try to fool yourself into believing that God doesn’t care about that or He doesn’t want to be vitally involved in our relationships and every area of life.
We can’t compartmentalize God out of our business life and say, "well, God is for church and all, and that’s very nice. We all need it. It¡¦s especially good for the kids. I go to church for them mainly.¡¨
Listen! Jesus Christ wants to be involved in every single part of your life. Authentic Christians understand that and I am telling you that your relationship with Jesus Christ, if it is real, it will affect every single aspect of your existence.
That¡¦s because Jesus is interested in everything about us every problem every concern. He knows how to make a difference in your work, in your marriage, in your families and in your personal life!
Living an authentic Christian life will affect everything from how you do business, to how you relate to your customers, to how you treat your competitors to the way you treat your waitress at lunch today.
Christian living isn¡¦t a Sunday morning experience. Don¡¦t try to put on your relationship with Christ like you do your Sunday morning suit. Jesus Christ wants to be involved in every aspect of your life. And that is exactly what is happening in the life of an authentic servant of Jesus Christ.
Now, here¡¦s where it really gets tough. While others can make some judgment about what we have discussed so far, this time, only you and God know the answer. We can have some idea of what kind of Christian you are at home, at work, at church, even out in the community. But we don¡¦t know for sure what you are like when you are all alone.
5. Am I REAL when I am ALL ALONE?
Can a person really live this holy life, even when no one is looking? Absolutely! You can and you must if you want to see Christ.
In those midnight hours, what do you see on the Internet? Who are you communicating with? Have you written anything, said anything or looked at anything you would be ashamed of? Would you want your wife to review the hard drive on that computer?
Would you be pleased if your kids walked in that hotel room you were in recently? How did you justify that pay per view or video rental? Is that really what authentic Christians fill their mind with? How about the drugs? The alcohol? That secret sin? Is that really the way you want to live? Wouldn¡¦t you like to get real and just be honest?
I know some of you are panicked thinking I can¡¦t do this. Congratulations! You just made the first necessary discovery in living this authentic Christian life. You can¡¦t do it on your own. But you can do it if you will let the Lord help you. You can take advantage of the support, counseling, friendship and prayers of fellow travelers who are on this journey with you. People like yourself who are fighting the same battles. Real Christians. We need to help each other live the life God is calling us all to live.
An authentic Christian might be defined as a Christian who is what he or she appears to be. They tell the truth¡Kall of the time. They are the same in private as they are in public. They keep their word at all costs. They present no facades. They are not fake. They are real, authentic and genuine.
I wonder. Have you had a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ? There are real authentic Christians and there are some who are just pretending to be Christian. They live in the land of make believe. They are fake. Some have been doing it so long they have forgotten what the real thing even looks like.
If you want to see the real thing this morning, I point you to Jesus.
You remember those counterfeit bills we talked about earlier? Do you know how they train tellers to detect counterfeit money? It¡¦s not just the pen. Tellers are trained to notice counterfeit money by getting familiar with real money! That¡¦s right!
The idea is that the more familiar you are with real money the easier it will be for you to detect fake money. You would think they would train people by showing them what counterfeit money looks like and feel like. Instead, they get them completely familiar with the real deal. They get to know the genuine article. That way they will be able to spot the counterfeit.
Jesus is the genuine article when it comes to Christian living. He is our example. He is the model that we are to pattern our lives after. And He is ready to help you live the life He is calling you to live. He wants to provide you with all the resources you need.
You know, I could pretend to be the President of the United States. But that doesn¡¦t make me the President. I don¡¦t have the credentials.
The Credentials of an Authentic Christian:
1) Christ has forgiven you.
2) You have accepted Him as your Savior.
3) You are walking in the light of Hs Word.
4) Everyday.
5) Everywhere you go.
How about it? Are you an authentic Christian? Are you real? Are you genuine?
Authenticity is not about altering your circumstances.
It is about altering you and refining in you the image of Jesus Christ.
Are you open to that kind of transformation this morning?
God wants to do an incredible work in your life. Why settle for some poor imitation? Why settle for weak, anemic Christianity when you can experience a new vitality in your walk with the Lord that will literally transform your life?
2 Corinthians 13:5 The Message
Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.
I¡¦m inviting you to do just that this morning.
Invitation
