Years ago, it dawned on me that we ‘believers’ would probably do better to let others call us ‘Christians’...as opposed to us having to tell them we are. I mean, really...if we have to tell others we are ‘like Christ’, then maybe it’s not working for us, you think?

“It was in Antioch where the disciples were first called ‘Christians’. (Acts 11:26)

You’ll notice in that scripture there that it does not say ‘they called themselves ‘Christians’ first, in Antioch.

There was just something about those early followers of Christ that stood out to all those around them; which is a good thing. We were ‘called out of darkness in order to walk in the light as He is in the light’. (1 Pet.2:9; 1 John 1:7). We should ‘stand out’.

So when we throw out blanket statements like ‘Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven’, or ‘I’m a saint who sins’, are we not confusing matters even more for ‘non-believers’?

I know, this kind of talk makes us uncomfortable and you will usually respond in one of two ways- You’ll either be broken with conviction within your own heart, almost shamefully in agreement; or you will bristle with offense and want to spew back, or at least think anyone who would suggest such a thought is a hypocritical-holier-than-thou-Pharisee.

I would hope we could all lean in the direction of the first response, but if you are inclined to go with the second one, then have at it; I understand and won’t take it personally.

Who knows, maybe there is a third reaction where a non-believer reads this, sits up and says: “Ok...you have my attention- I’m listening...tell me more!’?

I’m pretty sure what has muddied the waters for so many and for so long, has to do with what we have been taught and what we have seen all around us. And then there is what many of us have personally experienced...or maybe...not? I hope you will hear me out on this because there really is some hopeful and encouraging truths found embedded in the scriptures that could be life changing for whoever longs for a closer and more transformative walk with Jesus.

That is, after all, what He came to do: He came to transform us. (2 Cor. 5:17). (you should look that word ‘transform’ up in a dictionary)

I do believe though that it is easy for us to get caught up in poetic language, ambiguous metaphors, and spiritually lofty goals where we aspire to at least want....to be more like Christ, but we all know that this won’t happen until He returns and sweeps all of us miserable wretched sinners up and then changes us when we get to heaven; or so we’ve been told.

But here’s my question regarding that mentality: What good is that if we have to wait until we ‘get to heaven’ before we become Christlike? The whole purpose of us becoming ‘Christlike’ down here was so we could be an impactful witness of His divine power and nature...and then go out into all the world to proclaim that any and all could change and be free from sin, death, and darkness. Jesus was, after all the ‘firstborn of many brethren’ as those who love God and are following Christ are being ‘conformed to His image’. (Rom. 8:29)

I think Paul really meant what he wrote to the Corinthians (and us) when he said: “Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you ‘fail the test’?” (2 Cor. 13:5)

Now if you take the time to actually do this, and then discover you ‘failed the test’, may I reassure you that it is not the end of the world. I know some of us might have thought that when we got a test back in school that we failed, and were convinced that life as we knew it was about to be over. But hey...here’s the good news, God lets us have another attempt at taking the test again, at least while there is still time. And you won’t find a better ‘tutor’ (Jesus) to help you pass it either. He does have a bit of an invested interest in all this in wanting you to pass – and with flying colors too. ;-)

So...you take the test and examine yourself. Need an ‘answer key’ to see how you did? I found it...it’s in your Bible.

“Now by this we know that we know Him, IF...we keep His commandments.” (1 John 2:3)

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) ...and that means ‘loving one another as He loved us”. (34) (take a look at 1 Cor. 13:4-7 if you need more insight)

“Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” (1 John 3:6)

“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9)

“By this we know that we are in Him- He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:5-6)

True story...as I was typing those verses out, I had a flashback to those days when I was in school and would take a quiz or test up to the teacher to be graded, and starting with the first answer, the red pen came out and the landscape of my answer sheet began to ‘bleed red’ before even going to the second page. And if you never experienced that in your life, well, we can’t be friends. ;-) j/k

So let’s go back to that last verse in 1 John 2:6 that states “he who says they abide in Him ought themselves also to walk just as He walked.” You’ll notice it does not include any clarifications that we do that ‘some of the time, or ‘most of the time’ or ‘when we feel like it’ or ‘in the days following a revival we had at church’.

IF...we are abiding in Him, we will walk as He walked; Period.

Now...I did not put that in there, please understand. And I have given up trying to refute or argue or dismiss and explain away the word of God. I know where that leads to. I finally reached a point in my walk where I was just willing to say...”Yep...that is what it says so Lord...maybe you can teach me more about how this happens? “ And Praise be to God...He is doing just that. Why do you think I continue to write and share with you here what I am learning? :- )

So here comes a pretty impactful statement that I want to leave you with today and hope it takes root IN you...and that the Holy Spirit will be all over this and bear witness in confirming this to be true:

How many of you have ever heard this phrase, if not uttered it yourself: “Christians are not supposed to act that way!”?

Friends...We were not called to ‘act like Jesus’ ...the plan was for us to ‘BE LIKE HIM’.

And if you don’t know the difference between the two, that might explain a lot of things.

One more time: You don’t have to ‘act like Christ’ ....You are to ‘BE’ like Christ. And that...should come as some pretty liberating news to many.

Now if that sounds rather ‘mysterious’ to you, well then...Good! It is supposed to be a ‘mystery’. Paul explains this in Col.1:26-27, even suggesting this ‘mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations...has now been revealed to His saints.”

And it is ‘to the saints’ that God is revealing this to, including us Gentiles...Christ is supposed to be IN us! And He should not be hard to see! Well, that is if we are following the leading of His Spirit who will first begin to lead you to put some things to rest’ no, not ‘rest’ but ‘death’. (Rom. 8:13). “He must increase ...BUT...I must decrease”. (John 3:30)

Unless we are willing to lay down our lives and totally die to self, there will be no ‘evident fruit’. (John 12:24). And it is by our ‘fruit’ that all will know. (Matt. 7:20). Oh, and about this ‘fruit thing’...Jesus slipped this in as well: “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit”. (Matt. 7:18). I know...that can really mess with our theology as well. But just maybe...’our theology’ needs ...to be messed with...and then set aside so that God can be God and be about the business of truly changing us in...to His likeness.

That was, after all ...the original plan way back in the beginning. (Gen. 1:26-27)