Considerations

    How much are we at fault?

    You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.” Romans 2:23-24 NLT

    If God is anything like those people, I don’t want anything to do with him!

    These are the sentiments of many as they look at the lives of those who profess to be followers of Jesus and servants of God. Those outside of the body of Christ are unfortunately coming across many who call themselves Christians but whose lives are reflecting the opposite of what a life in Christ is to resemble. Sounds similar to what those in Paul’s community were experiencing in his days according to our verses above. It seems those who boasted about knowing God and His law were living contrary to what they were professing and they were causing others to “blaspheme the name of God”. How much are Christians at fault for causing others to irreverently view God and dismiss any connection with Him?

    Opportunity for Introspection

    In Romans 2:17-24, we see Paul encouraging his fellow Roman Jews to consider whether their lives are aligned with the law they boast is sacred and uniquely given to them as God’s chosen people. Using questions, Paul provides opportunities of introspection for his audience to ask themselves, ‘am I living out what I am professing and teaching others?’ It’s an exercise each of us can partake in on a regular basis to determine whether we are fulfilling our crucial role as Christ’s ambassadors. Here are a few questions we can consider:

    • Is there anything I can do differently to ensure others have a true view of who God is?
    • How am I doing as an ambassador for Christ? Am I a living representation of Him or more aligned with the world?
    • Am I living out the teachings of the Bible that I profess to be truth and light? Or am I unknowingly exemplifying the hypocritical view the world often has about Christians? 
    • How are my choices of words and actions possibly impacting how others see God? 

    Actions and words matter

    Just this week I became aware of two separate incidents of believers being engaged in behaviours that are clearly denounced in the word of God. Behaviours that even non-believers know are contrary to the standards in the Bible, the guide in which Christians have been given to live by. These behaviours are ungodly and completely disregard the feelings of others. How can we profess to be conveyors of God’s love, kindness, goodness, righteousness, etc., if we are partaking in actions that are contrary to the character of God? How can we encourage others to taste and see that God is good, when they see and taste from us reprehensible behaviours that steal, kill and destroy?


    As I read Paul’s poignant questions to the Jews in Romans 2, I realized that any of us can very well be one word, one action away from causing another to incorrectly regard God as: cold, heartless, evil, irrelevant, distant, selfish, unforgiving, hateful, prejudiced, racist, unloving, wicked, hurtful, indifferent, unfaithful, impatient, unreliable, unkind, etc. Our choice of words and actions as God’s children and the body of Christ matter. Why? Because what we say and do as Christians is associated with God in the eyes of others.

    Living as Christ’s ambassadors

    In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul referred to believers as “Christ’s ambassadors” whom “God was making his appeal… be reconciled to God.” Such behaviours described above are not beneficial characteristics of an appeal to draw others to God. Instead they cause people to develop a false view of God and His character, leading many to the type of thoughts expressed at the beginning of this post.


    So what do we do with this idea that the misunderstanding of God is partly our fault as His children? Do we wallow in our failure to always be on point, successfully representing Him in words and deeds? The purpose of this post is not to make us feel bad about our failures. It’s to encourage us…

    1. to reflect on how we are doing in our ambassadorship in this world.
    2. to choose to be His light in this world of darkness.
    3. to allow ourselves to be His sweet fragrance among the foulness around us.
    4. to fulfill the call to be His ambassadors, by truthfully representing through word and deed, who He is and his message of God’s love and reconciliation for all.
    5. to have the desire to do all we can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to be less like ourselves and more like Christ.

    Perhaps then we will hear from others:

    If God is anything like these people, I want to know Him for myself!