Christian Identifiers

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14 NIV)

How do we know if someone is a Christian? There are many ways that most people use: Crosses hung around their necks, fish symbols stuck to their cars, bumper stickers telling what church they belong to. But that is not always reliable. Perhaps we can tell by how well they quote scripture or if they attend church every week. Maybe it depends on how many church activities they are involved with or how many committees they sit on.

Let's face it; we all know people who have long lists of Christian identifiers in their lives and yet they are nowhere near Christlike. I think one of the most decptive "fake Christians" is the one who quotes scripture really well... but they tend to use it out of context and quote whatever verses seem to forward their own agendas. It's hard to argue with these types and they know it. But are they really Christ's idea of a Christian?

That's the kind of Christian I want to be... Christ's idea of a Christian. What are the identifiers of THAT kind of Christian? The scripture above says it so well... compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and over all, love. When you hear one of those "super Christians" quoting scripture, check how they have clothed themselves. Is he wearing a cross around his neck, but forgot to put on his compassion? Is she wearing a t-shirt with a clever Christian logo but forgot to put on her kindness? If they are not wearing the same "clothes" that Jesus wore, they may think they follow Christ, but perhaps they follow their own version of a Jesus who never really existed.

Find out more about the "clothes" Jesus wore and the "clothing" Paul told the Colossians to put on and strive to become more like Christ's idea of a Christian.

Lord Jesus,
Help us to know you well enough to know the way we should be dressed so that the world will know what Christians really look like. Amen.

Joys: 41 children at VBS last night! Awesome!; Watching the middle- and high- school youth leading groups of children at VBS; Chelsea's baby shower tonight!