Musick-al Note # 160
Many people today tend to treat Christianity as a religious veneer to cover their social imperfections so that they might do as they please in their work and recreation, yet be pleasing to God. I pray that that Christianity is the way of life for every one of you. Jesus lived and taught so we can follow His example in our living (1 Peter 2:21). We should examine and measure our every act in the light of His divine will. This would include our language and habits as well as the places to which we go and the things we do. Following Christ was never meant to be a veneer or a covering but to become the core of one’s life.
To live one kind of life on the job and another on Sunday morning is hypocrisy. To speak harsh, ugly words through the week and lead prayer on Sunday morning is hypocrisy. To engage in worldly entertainment through the week and sing praises to God on Sunday morning is hypocrisy. To claim to be a Christian on Sunday morning and live lives of worldliness through the week is hypocrisy. To be pleasing to God, we must not be conformed to the world through the week but rather we must live transformed lives day by day that will show that we are not our own but that we belong to Christ who loved us and gave His blood to redeem us from sin. How can we continue to commit sin when we know the -great price Jesus paid to redeem us from the result of our sins (Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 6:23). He died to ransom everyone from sin’s penalty (death) and now asks that we obey Him to have our sins forgiven (Hebrews 5:9, Acts 22:16). One’s obedience makes that person a child of God and at the same time places them into Christ (Galatians 3:27-27).
Another area of hypocrisy that multitudes have ignored is claiming to be following Christ but follow false teachers in worship. Please note that from the beginning of the church (Acts 2) that those who obeyed the teaching to have their sins forgiven were at the same time added to the church that belonged to Jesus (Acts 2:47). They were not told to join the church of their choice. Jesus and his disciples warned against false teachers and following false doctrines that lead to eternal death (Matthew 7:13-27, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Galatians 1:6-9). Let us continue to measure ourselves in all aspects of life.
Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 