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| Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com |
What is the “sign” that someone is a Christian? Is it a cross? A Bible?
Specific items are often associated with a particular group. Policemen
carry badges; doctors sport stethoscopes; ministers wear clerical collars;
baseball players never go anywhere without their caps. Yet, donning a badge doesn’t make me a
policeman anymore than slinging a stethoscope around my neck makes me a doctor.
So, is everyone wearing a cross a Christian? After all, lots of people
wear them these days. Does owning a Bible mean we believe what is between its
pages?
I recently read an article about a teenager who wore scrubs and a
stethoscope, walked into several hospitals in Australia, and posed as a doctor
in both the ER and in patient’s rooms. The authorities and the general public
were outraged. And, rightly so. No one looks up to an impersonator.
In John 13:35 Jesus shares the true indication of a Christian.
“Your love for one another will
prove
to the world that you are my disciples."
It’s not sterling silver crosses tacked on our ties or dangling from
our bracelet that tells the world that we are Christians. It’s not a large-print,
leather-bound, words-of-Jesus-in-red Bible that signifies our beliefs. It is
our love for one another.
That simple online news article about the teen-aged imposter pricked my
soul. What signal am I sending out by my words, my actions, my attitudes? Am I
showing love for my fellow believers? What is really in my heart? Can the world
tell that I follow Jesus?
“Whatever is in your heart determines what you
say.
A good person produces good things
from the
treasury of a good heart,
and an evil person produces evil things
from
the treasury of an evil heart.
Matthew 12:34, 35
Blessings!
Pam©2013 Pamela D. Williams
