PROGRAM W-1790 – Part II
I recently was with a dear couple who are from a Middle Eastern country where there is no freedom of religion. It is a Muslim country and, if you are a citizen of this country and you convert to Christianity by accepting Jesus as your Savior, you could very easily be convicted and sentenced to death or life in prison. They had to leave their country and their families to come to America and receive asylum here.
There was clear evidence that they had come to a personal knowledge of God through Jesus Christ and it was impossible for them to cover it up or keep it a secret—even from their families. So at great cost to themselves, they left in order to find religious freedom here. It was a clear reminder to me of how important it is that we keep the freedom we have in this country. It is under attack in many ways, and the day may come when we will have to face persecution because we are Christians.
I have asked you to imagine that the time would come when you had to stand trial because you were a Christian. The accusation against you would be that you say you are a Christian, but the prosecutor in this trial has to show evidence that you are indeed a Christian. What evidence would there be?
In his letter to Timothy, Paul wrote the following:
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
Paul says to Timothy that he should set an example of what a Christ-follower is like by his speech, the way he daily conducts his life, the love he shows for others, the faith he demonstrates in God, and the purity of his lifestyle. Those are five measurements which are still today evidence of a person who says they are Christians. I have shared the importance of the words we speak, the way we live our lives, and the love that is evidenced in our lives. Now, I will look at the other two evidences in this passage.
Evidence of faith
If you were on trial to determine if you truly were a Christian, could evidence be shown to prove that you really have faith in God—that you trust him with your life? If you are trusting God with your life, with your future, it will show—it will be evident.
Years ago, I spent far too many years not trusting God with my life. I thought I needed to be in control of my life in order to have what I wanted. I was afraid God would take my life in a direction I did not want to go. What I finally came to realize was that I was afraid to trust God! To even say those words now seems so ridiculous to me, but the fact was, I would not give over control of my life to God because I was afraid that his plan would not be as good as my plan. My faith was pitiful. Had I been on trial then, there would have been no evidence to prove that I had a strong faith in the God of the Universe.
What happened? My dreams were dashed and I was left with the clear understanding that my way was disastrous. I realized my only real option was to trust God—to place my faith in the eternal God who loved me. It is so often true that we don’t learn to trust God until we are desperate—until we have tried everything we can think of and nothing has worked. I could have saved myself a lot of grief and pain had I been willing to give it up sooner and trust the eternal God.
Maybe that’s where you are today. You’re trying so hard to make your life turn out the way you want it to—you’re trying everything you can think of—and nothing is working out. If so, I want to kindly and strongly encourage you to let it go and place your faith in the God who loves you. Your faith may be very small at this point—mine was after those years of running from God.
Are you familiar with the story in Mark 9 where a man brings his son to Jesus for healing? He is in a bad way, possessed with an evil spirit.
Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:21-24)
That’s a prayer I have often prayed: “Father, I do believe in you and in your power. I do have faith, but it’s weak sometimes. Help me overcome my unbelief.”
You know what builds your faith? Walking with God through faith in Jesus Christ day after day, recognizing his faithfulness to you, praying, and seeing God do wonders and miracles in your life. This couple I mentioned from the Middle East began telling us what God has done in their lives to save them, to bring them to America, to bring people in their lives who have been such a blessing—and just listening to their story built my faith.
Think about your story. When has God proved faithful to you? What has he done to show you that your faith is not in vain? Have you ever taken on a mission for God which was so big that you knew only God could do it? A few years ago through my church, a friend and I decided to find a way to open a home for women who have been sexually trafficked. Talk about a big job—there was no way we could do it. But now, six year later, I could tell you so many miracles of what God did to bring this dream into a reality. Having gone through that experience, my faith was greatly strengthened. All I have to do is just remember what God did for us, and any doubts or fears I have about the future are erased.
What has God done in your life to prove he is a faithful and trustworthy God? Is the fear of trusting God keeping you from seeing his power in your life, as it did for me for so long? Let me encourage you to trust him; nothing else makes sense. He is trustworthy. Remember that without faith it’s impossible to please God.
So, I ask you again, what evidence would be brought against you to prove that you have faith in God? Would it be so clear that you would indeed be convicted of being a Christ-follower?
Evidence of Purity
The last thing Paul mentions to young Timothy is that his life should be an example of a Christian through the purity of his lifestyle. If this was true in their day, how much more so in ours! Living a pure life by biblical standards is not only considered impossible, but totally out-of-step with today’s “progressive culture.” We are bombarded with all kinds of media telling us in a thousand ways that sexual freedom, homosexual lifestyles, and same-sex marriages are not only acceptable, but applauded.
Purity of life also includes a life of integrity, of honesty, and of simply always doing the right thing regardless of the cost. It includes our financial dealings and our business practices. They should be so pure that no one could find fault with them if everything was revealed.
Remember Daniel? His jealous coworkers were determined to defame him and get him killed. They looked high and low at every aspect of his life, but here’s what we read in Daniel 6:4-5: “They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
Daniel’s purity of life was so evident that his accusers could find nothing corrupt or even negligent in the way he lived, the way he did business, and the way he dealt with other people. Imagine with me that every stone in your life was overturned—your finances were exposed, your business dealings were scrutinized—would they be able to find any impurity, any evidence that you were not squeaky clean? Would they have to conclude, as they did with Daniel, that you’re never going to do anything that is against the God you serve, and therefore you are truly a Christian?
Here’s a simple poem which says a lot:
You are writing a Gospel, a chapter each day,
By the deeds that you do and the words that you say.
People read what you write—distorted or true.
What is the Gospel according to you?
People who don’t know Jesus don’t typically read the Bible. But they read the people who read the Bible. Paul wrote this to the Christians in Corinth:
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3)
We are God’s Word—his truth—to a world in desperate need of Jesus. What is the message written on your heart, the evidences in your life, which others can see and read, and readily know that you are a Christian, that you follow Christ? Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian?
Of course, I recognize that none of us is likely to be on trial any time soon—at least not in this country—for our faith, although that day may come. However, there is a much higher court than even our United States Supreme Court. The Bible says that every true believer will stand before Jesus to give an account of how we’ve lived our life. So, the real question today for us Christians is this: Will Jesus find evidence in our lives that we have been faithful witnesses of who he is and what he has done for us? Will your faith stand up in that court?