Examples

www.bible.com/1713/php.4.9.csb

Have you ever been witness to a real Christian? Sometimes they are hard to spot in the wild. Someone who has integrity, honesty, and a winsome personality. Have you seen them? Sadly, many alleged Christians I’ve seen complain, wear sour faces, or forget to act like they were bought with a price and owed their eternity to a loving God who spent the blood of his own Son to save their souls.

I know it’s hard to always appreciate your faith and it’s implications because life happens. Life discourages us. If we let it go too long, it makes us hard. And that’s what I see a lot. People who have been hardened by hardship and sorrow. Like they’ve forgotten who they are. Or whose they are.

Many Christians live like practical atheists until Sunday comes around. Then they take their glum looks to church and glare at those that have any pretense to real worship. I’ve been on both sides of this, among those that disapprove and those that raise their hands anyway. I know the feelings and justifications offered and received. So I know why some, coming into the church, prefer the solemnity to the joy.

Life is supposed to be hard they reason. God is to be respected and worshipped with reverence, not with awkward posing and shouts. Being a Christian ought to be quiet and private, not public and obvious.

I admire those of quiet faith who have been tested and refined and still love the Lord. But I also admire those whose faith is on their sleeve, who speak of Jesus as their best friend and speak of Him constantly. And I believe everyone is needed in the Body of Christ. And everyone is an example to someone. They may be a bad example, but they are an example.

I want to encourage you this morning to look for those that are examples of Christian Faith, be they alive or dead, and learn a little about their journey. What brought them to Jesus? How did they decide to follow Him? What made the difference in life? Take a moment today to learn something about those who have walked the journey before us.

God bless!