Yes, I’m an X-Phile. But that’s not really where I want to go this week; the iconic tagline was just too good to pass up.
I want to continue on some thinking spurred by a discussion on last week’s post, about how what we throw away can demonstrate to the world what we believe. I was ranting about how the disposable society we live in is not following our basic Christian values, by talking about the coffee pods and disposable drink cups. The theme went towards this question:
If aliens saw how we acted, and the implications, would they know we’re Christ-followers?
I really believe that everything we do should reflect our beliefs. And, more so, that it does. Whether we realise it or not, we’re showing to the world the truth of who we are every moment of every day. Because the truth of what goes on inside us becomes what we put out there – the truth IS out there.
So what truth are you showing the world? Are you showing the faith you profess during worship services? Are you making the hard decisions every day to live out your baptismal vows?
It’s hard. It’s hard in a society where apologising can be seen as weakness or as a liability, rather than an effort toward reconciliation. It’s hard in a society where ‘snark’ and insult seem to be socially acceptable (or even expected). It’s hard in a society where being popular is more important than being faithful. It’s hard in a society where a really good deal makes us forget what we’ve learned in the news in past months. It’s hard in a society that’s been built on unsustainable practices that will force us to drastically change our ways. It’s hard in a society like ours.
But we can make the choices to demonstrate our Christianity to the world by being counter-cultural. We can ask the difficult questions about the source of our purchases; we can research how ethical the companies we support are; we can search out alternatives that are less damaging environmentally; we can prioritise relationships over things; we can say (and mean) ‘I’m sorry’ instead of ‘I was right!’; we can outwardly express love and compassion instead of refusing to risk rejection or discomfort. We can show the world the truth that we know in our hearts, if we’ll allow it the opportunity to shine forth.
“They’ll know we are Christians by our love” as the hymn says… thinking about our own lives recently, will ‘they’ really?
By PJW51 October 9, 2013 - 7:27 pm
I wonder if an alien saw the way some Christians behave they would say forget that they are no different than the rest of this society. We need to be more open, caring, dare I say loving towards each other . . And that refrences how we within the church act toowards to each other , like at vestry meetings, Parish Councils so forth. But also how we treat the least of the members of our society , memo to self stop scowling at the street people they are God’s children TOO. blessings PJW51