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The Call to Live
I liked John. He was one of my favorite people. Everybody liked John. You couldn’t help it. He was one of those people that never met a stranger…that could win you over with a smile.
As
I stared across my desk at John, I saw his emptiness…his longing for something
that would fill the void he had in his life.
I really don’t remember why he had been sent to my office.
It certainly was not the first time John had visited the principal.
He was a mischievous young man anyway, but more than that, John was
making some poor choices in his life. He
knew that I knew what those choices were. We
had a very open relationship and he knew that I genuinely cared for him.
Several other times I had shared Christ with him in my office.
Christ was the only One who could give His life purpose and direction,
and John knew that. That day John
began to cry as our conversation went beyond school rules and tardiness.
John was close to making an important decision in his life…to accept
Jesus Christ as Savior and to begin a new life.
Only, John could not seem to cross the line.
Finally I ask, “John, what’s holding you back.
Could you share it with me?”.
With tears on his cheeks, John told me that he had been to church many times.
He pointed down the road to a church only blocks from the school and told
me he had watched the Christian kids pray, sing and worship God while he
attended. Then John looked me right
in the eyes and told me that some of those same Christian kids attended the same
parties on Friday nights that he went to…that they drank the same beer he
drank…that some had tried the same drugs he had tried.
Then John looked at me and said, “Mr. Coleman, they’re no different
from me except on Sunday!”
I’ve told that story a lot over the last few years…to youth groups all over
I
get this response everywhere I go. And
before we put the cross on the back of our young people, we had better check our
own moccasins first. What is this
game we play with God? And what kind
of impact is this game having on the world as it looks at our lives and make
conclusions about Christianity.
I
was listening to a talk show the other day on the radio.
The discussion revolved around the fact that our president was being
criticized in many circles about referring to scripture and prayer in his
“state of the union” address. A
man called in and made his comment. “Now I’m a Christian but if I want to
hear scriptures and prayers…” I cringed at the thought of what was coming
next. He continued, “if I wanted
to hear about scriptures and prayers, I’ll go to church!
What I want to hear from the president is not scripture and prayer…I
want to hear about is what we are going to do with the economy, about the price
of gas…about our reaction to terrorism.”
You see, that’s the problem. We
think the Christian life is what you do on Sunday, it’s what you do at church,
but what about the rest of the week? Do
the principles of Christ apply then? We
put on our Christian clothes and our Christian faces on Sunday morning.
But on Monday we curse the boss, blow our horns at idiot drivers, tell
the referees they are blind at the local ball game, laugh at jokes that make fun
of others, and watch legalized immorality on TV at night.
The world watches our lives and, like John, concludes about Christians,
“They’re no different that us, except on Sunday.”
I
would like to offer myself a challenge. Maybe
you’re interested, too. Today, I
am going to try to act like a Christian. On
my job, I am going to act like a Christian.
Around my family, I am going to act like a Christian.
In the face of adversity, I am going to act like a Christian.
In the midst of failure, I am going to act like a Christian.
Between Sundays, I am going to act like a Christian.
When my team loses, I am going to act like a Christian.
Who knows? Maybe John is
watching…maybe he’ll see a difference…maybe, just maybe, he’ll ask
Christ into his life and he’ll find out for sure that Christianity is not what
you do on Sunday…Christianity is allowing Christ to live through our lives
every moment, every second!
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