What Is Your Life Saying

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE SAYING

"Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong. Your every action must be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13

Last night I saw a disturbing bumper sticker. It read: "I love God - it's His fans that I can't stand." It took a few minutes for the shock value to set in, but as I have thought about it through the night, it was a good reminder to me that the world is watching our every move and action. What makes us different because we call ourselves "Christians" - followers of Christ?

Several years ago I was a part of a board meeting where an unsaved business man was asked to attend the meeting in order to get some clarity about a property he was selling to another Christian organization. The board that I was serving on used to own the property, and in fact, their name was still on the deed restriction. The man was asking us to release the property so that the transaction could proceed.

A number of the Board members asked good questions to bring clarity, but one man in particular who had a very strong personality, came out of the gate and forcefully attacked the man's integrity and made all kinds of unkind, unfounded accusations. It was very obvious that this unsaved man was offended by what meet took place, and the discussion quickly ended.
After he left the room, the Board member who attacked this man verbally, smugly said," "Well, I hope you are all proud of me. I sure put him in his place."

One by one, the Board members had the courage to say, "You not only embarrassed us, you brought shame to the name of Christ." It was one of those defining moments. Several years later we needed to solicit help from the offended party and I had opportunity to speak to the CFO of his organization to see how best to approach him. The CFO went on to explain that his boss had never forgotten the incident, and had said, "And these men and women call themselves Christians?"

We met with this man and he was very gracious, but you could sense he was holding back and not real supportive. The Lord provided the opportunity for me to mention the meeting he had with our Board and he immediately shared how bothered he was about what had happened and that he had shared this with numerous people. I humbly asked his forgiveness and apologized for what took place and told him how the other Board members had rebuked the man for his obnoxious behavior. The man graciously accepted the apology and the whole tone of the meeting turned around, and in fact, he ended up helping us in a very positive way.

There are individuals that want to make sure every "I' is dotted and every "T" crossed when it comes to doctrine. They will contend for the faith, and rightly so, but with their actions they send a signal to the world that they are no different than the rest of the world. Our actions do speak louder than our words. What is your life saying to the lost around you? Are you living life so that people are asking, "What is it about him that makes him so different?"

Something good to think about today. Wouldn't it be a great testimony if the bumper stick would read: "I love God and love his fans"?

Bill Welte is the President and CEO of America's KESWICK and is the editor and founding writer of the daily FREEDOM FIGHTERS. For more information about the ministries of America's KESWICK, visit our
website: www.americaskeswick.org

Great quote: "Guilty people make others feel guilty; free people make others free. And you can always tell how guilty a person feels by noticing how guilty you feel around him or her. Can I repeat that? You can always tell how guilty a person feels by noticing how guilty you feel are him or her. Jesus has made you free. It is important that you bring others to Him for the same surgery that He has performed on you." Steve Brown, Born Free