Are You For Real?

On occasion it’s more of an exclamation than a question: “Are you for real?”  Translated, it can mean, “Are you making this up?” “Are you telling me the truth or just pulling my leg?” “Are you sure about this?”

When it comes to your faith in God, are you for real? How can others who cannot peek at your motives, glance at your thoughts, or scan your soul, know for sure that you are a follower of Jesus?  What is the primary evidence of your credibility and authenticity? How do they know that your faith is real”?  According to John 13:35 your Christian identity is best revealed in the way you love others: This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other (MSG).

When I think about authenticity, I am reminded of the story of Elijah McCoy, a master mechanic and engineer who was born in 1843 to former slaves who had escaped from Kentucky to Ontario via the Underground Railroad. His parents sent him to study in Scotland, where he earned a degree in engineering. Later in his career, working in partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad, McCoy invented a lubricating cup that automatically dripped oil. He received a United States patent in 1872, and installation of his invention on locomotives began shortly thereafter. His design greatly increased engine efficiency, and soon every company wanted one of the "McCoy Cups." So many inferior copies were made that train engineers began to demand "the real McCoy," and not a “knock off” or an imitation.

Authentic Christian living tends to be a more persuasive influence toward reaching seekers than sermons, songs, or religious programs. Seekers are more interested in the genuineness of your personal faith than they are your doctrinal purity or your denominational loyalty.

Speaking about the power of Christian witness, Scottish minister William Barclay surmises that, "More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all of the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all of the doubts in the world."

For the growing Christian, faith is not a game wherein we pretend to be something we are not.  Growing Christians do not try to act hyper-holy or super-religious.   Deep down we know that we are merely sinners saved by grace. 

No matter where you are on the spectrum of Christian growth, be yourself and be real!

This Sunday we continue our series on The Good Life by talking about Good Medicine from Proverbs 17:22. 

Don’t forget the Chapel Choir Home Concert begins at 7 o’clock this Sunday evening.