During the late spring and throughout summer, my family and I enjoy going to various state and national parks within a day-trip radius of our home in Henderson, Kentucky. One Saturday morning, we drove to Marengo Cave, located near Marengo, Indiana. About thirty minutes through the tour, we entered a large chamber that had a shallow pond near the path. I don’t remember all that the tour guide told us, but I do remember how the pond gave the appearance of the chamber having another level underneath the one we were on. The guide did invite the group to come further into the chamber and see the shallow pond. Conversations and laughter erupted among our group as we began to realize that the lower level was nothing more than a reflection in a pond less than an inch and a half deep. We all were guilty of having a mistaken impression of the cavern’s chamber based on its visual appearance.
Last night, during the Sunday evening worship service at our church, the pastor, Alan Ramsey, discussed that we must understand that our race, as individual Christians and as a church, is not the same race that God has ordained for others. God has placed before each of us our own race; the trials, tribulations, and blessings we are given are uniquely crafted especially for us by God. As our pastor continued on his point, he began to talk about how each church has been given certain talents, abilities, and blessings to accomplish the tasks that God has set before it. Each church, just like each Christian, has its own race to run and should not be concerned with what other churches are doing but should focus on the tasks at hand. Too many times, Christians get off track when we start determining our spiritual growth and outlook to what other Christians are doing. While it is natural for us to want to model our lives and spiritual walk after those we perceive of having a strong relationship with God, we must keep in mind that the only true measure of our spiritual growth must be the only true measure – God’ word, the Bible.
I have made the mistake of measuring my spiritual walk to those that I thought were more spiritual than myself. At one point, I even based my decisions on which church to attend based on the building’s appearance, its size, and the number of cars in the parking lot on Sundays and Wednesday night. I was doing on a much larger scale of what the apostle Paul warned us about: Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s (II Corinthians 10:7). In this particular text, Paul was reminding the Christians at Corinth that appearance alone should not be the basis of Christian fellowship. We can make the broader application that we should not base our decisions about where to attend and serve in a church based on its appearance. Even the Lord Christ Jesus taught on this very subject, as recorded in the gospel of John: Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).
When we judge on appearance we become blinded to the truth and become focused on the perception. Just as I did when I was trying to find a church based on its outward appearance, as I began to visit those churches, I noticed that it was not the large buildings, the full parking lots, or even the well manicured church lawns where I felt the presence of God the most. In many occasions, it was obvious that something was missing from the church. Sure, they had great music, a piano player, and maybe even a choir, but the presence of the Lord wasn’t there. Instead of being Christ centered, something else had become the focus of the church; maybe it was a mission field, a new project, or maybe a person that the church was now focused on. There’s also a danger when we try and use the physical appearance of people we deem as Christians – they may have all the outward appearances of a love for Christ yet inside their hearts is empty, void of the true joy that Christ can give.
If we truly have the light of Christ dwelling in us we should not want to or be able to contain its transforming glow. As Jesus taught and as recorded in three of the gospels: Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house (Matthew 5:15). As a child of God, I should have a desire to follow Christ and his teachings that not only impacts my own being but should be evident to others. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t come into our hearts just so we can continue to live like the lost world around us but so that others may see the joy and blessings and we can give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15b). There is a difference in what others perceive about us when we act like we are Christians and when we actually walk the Christian path that the Lord has set before us. This is why Jesus taught his disciples that Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16). It’s not enough to appear as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ; a true Christian will bear fruit that not only identifies them as a Christian, but will also bear witness of Christ.
