Unbelievable

Photo courtesy of www.sarahhellems.com

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians 

who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."  

--Brennan Manning

I was encouraged to read a friend of mine's Facebook status yesterday.  She posted it on Maundy Thursday--the day before Good Friday--the day we reflect upon the Last Supper Jesus shared with His disciples and when He humbled Himself to wash their feet.  It was also the night that Judas left the group and betrayed Jesus, selling him out to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver.

Like my friend pointed out, it is easy for us as believers to "throw stones" and point fingers at Judas.  But upon further reflection and examination of our own lives, how often do we claim to be followers of Christ and then deny His reign and rule in our lives by how we live?  Guilty.

As I've recently discussed, faith without works is dead.  James states this emphatically in the second chapter of his epistle--he says, "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  He continues, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!"  We cannot imagine faith apart from works--you see it does not exist.  James makes it very clear that you show your faith by what you do.  Period.

So let us not be so ignorant as to judge Judas and the actions he took to deny Christ and not see how we--each one of us--are so apt to do the same.  And furthermore, when we realize the wrong we have done (as Judas, too, realized), are we consumed with godly sorrow or worldly sorrow?  Because if our hearts do not truly undergo godly repentance, then we are like Judas in that way, too--and we will not undergo the true heart change that leads to life and restoration.  Instead, like Judas, we will remain unchanged and never be reconciled to our Lord.

Will you take some time this Easter weekend to reflect upon your heart, dear friend?  Will you consider the ways in which you live inconsistently to the truth that you claim to believe?  It may not be fun or easy, but the way of the cross never is!  But let us encourage each other to ask ourselves the hard questions, so that we can better reflect the transformative truth of the gospel in our hearts and lives. The unbelieving world that is so keenly watching NEEDS to see it!