am i even a Christian?

I took a good look at myself the other day. I examined my lifestyle: the music I listen to, the shows I watch, the clothes I wear, the things I say and the way that I carry myself and present myself. I asked myself, “When people look at me, do they know that I am a believer?”

How can you tell whether or not someone is a believer? Well, as Christians, we are set apart. In the Gospel of John, we are told twice (John 15:19 and John 17:15-18) that we are not of the world and that means that we don’t belong in this world. When you don’t belong somewhere, you should look different, right? If I taped an orange to the branch of an apple tree, it would be easy to see that the orange doesn’t belong there because it would stand out. Because we are in this world but not of it, we too should stand out. If you say that you are a Christian but don’t look like a Christian to non-believers, are you even a Christian? If they look at you and see an ordinary, worldly human being, how are they supposed to see Jesus in you?

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

-Romans 12:2

Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to spend a week in a beautiful location with beautiful people who were seeking God’s heart, studying scripture for six hours every day and singing worship for thirty minutes every day. Being immersed in an environment in which the things of the world were absent made me realize that I spent too much time engaging in these worldly things. I listen to music that glorifies murder, sex outside of marriage, the disrespect of women etc. This is “cool” music, right? In the world, yes. From a Christian point of view, not so much.

The same goes with TV shows. I am especially guilty of this one. I recently binge watched Gossip Girl. I loved that show. It’s basically about badly behaved children who disrespect their parents, get drunk every weekend, have sex at the age of sixteen, abuse money, gossip and are super mean to one another. (See what I did there?) The enemy uses music and shows like this to separate us from God. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good TV shows that tell stories that don’t promote bad behavior and there is music out there that talks about good things. We cannot call ourselves Christ followers and still indulge in worldly things. We cannot love Jesus and love the world at the same time.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

-1 John 2:15

“Christian” isn’t a shirt that you wear on Sunday, put in the laundry throughout the week, wash on Saturday and put on again on Sunday. It’s not just a bio for your Instagram, Twitter or whatever Christian dating app exists nowadays. It’s not. I am so used to proudly telling people that I am a believer but not acting like it. If I dress just like people who don’t follow Christ (a topic for another day) and if I’m mean and rude, how are my friends going to see Jesus in me? A line that I love from a song that I recently discovered by ORU Worship says, “Fill my life till all they see is you Lord”. This line really sums up what I am striving towards and what I encourage you to strive towards as well. I want people to look at me and see Jesus. I don’t want to have to ask myself if I am even a Christian. I want my friends to see an orange in a world full of apples, ya know? God calls us to be like Christ and to follow in his example and that is the only way that people will see Jesus in us. I encourage you take some time to think about the way that you present yourself to people. If you’re like me and people see you and ask themselves if you’re even a Christian, think about changing your lifestyle so that you can reflect Christ. Think about how you can be an orange.

God truly loves you.

With love,

Mandile.