Living like a Christian

Is it not the worst thing in the world to be a Christian and hear the great stories of the martyrs and just feel like you’re not doing anything?  My teacher in high school always made a joke that "if you go any slower you would be going backwards".  Honestly, I feel like I am doing this a lot in my Christian walk compared to others who I feel are doing so many "Christian like" things.  I know there are many Bible passages to back up how a Christian should live and such (and I'm not saying I do not think a lot of Bible is not important), but one part always gets me and that's Hebrews 12: 1-2.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".  What an amazing passage that just has so much in it!  I find three ways that we can live like a Christian and are of key importance to me.

 

To start, we have "a great cloud of witnesses", or what I believe to be mentors, teachers, parents, etc.  These people help us in our daily walks.  If you do not have a mentor, I plead with you, if you do not have a mentor to guide you in your spiritual journey you should find someone you can trust.  This person is there that you can discuss issues and struggles in life.  You must be willing to bring everything up with this person and be willing to even confess what your "secret" life is really like.  This is not a boyfriend or girlfriend, but a friend or an adult that you can trust.

 Next, "let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us".  I know a lot of us have probably heard this in a church setting numerous times, but I have learned it a little bit differently here in college.  My professor, Dr. Doug Matthews, talks about 9/11 living.  Some of us remember the craziness that was going on the day of 9/11 and some of us cannot even imagine was it was like to be near, or even in, those buildings.  Dr. Matthews always tells the story of a person in one of the towers that was told to evacuate and to grab nothing.  There was no turning back, no grabbing the computer, no grabbing the picture of your family that they had on their desk, just running.

My professor and I both believe that we are to live every second of every day like this, where this might be our last day.  What if people do start living like this?  Can you imagine yourself when you get stressed or are hurting from a long day that you are still willing to finish the day (or race) by praising God somehow?  What if "your roommate from hell" (like my professor likes to use as an example) were not seen or treated as they are but are still loved.  Mark 13:37 says, "What I say you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'", for we do not know how this world is going to end, but we need to keep on living and keep fighting to finish the race.

Lastly, I believe we need to continually challenge ourselves.  I believe there are a few ways this can be done, but we first need to keep watch of how we live.  I do this by journaling and writing my strengths, weaknesses, and goals of the day or week.  You can do this however you want, but I do encourage you to make sure you’re on the right track spiritually.  I believe we then need to keep our eyes on one thing, and that is Jesus (v. 2).  Without him, we have not challenge, because he has given us an example to live by.  We will never be like him in every way, but you ever thought what it would be like to live like Jesus?  What if we all even just tried, I believe that Christians would not be called Christian’s anymore, but merely Christ followers.  That is who I believe we are to be and I believe this is what makes a true Christian.