Christian Identity Theft
Picture from Destiny Family Christian Centre
Last week, someone hacked into my email account and sent out spam to all my contacts. It was highly frustrating as I had to change all my passwords (a herculean task for me – read Forgotten Passwords for the reason why) and let as many people know as possible that I had not sent them a dropbox folder containing investment “opportunities.”
As I mused on making my new password “Ih8hacker$,” I felt violated and indignant that my trust and my contacts’ trust had been so disrespected. I was also wary of potential identify theft and spent hours combing through online accounts for my credit cards, utility bills, and social media.
No one likes a poser.
Perhaps that’s why so many are reluctant to take on the name, “Christian.” Are we afraid of committing identity theft or violating the commandment not “to take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7) by claiming to be a follower of Christ when we’re so messed up? Is being branded a “Christian hypocrite” worse than the Scarlet Letter being pinned to our chest?
Christians first got their name, “Christians,” in Antioch, an ancient Greek city. The early disciples of Jesus were being persecuted in Jerusalem, so they scattered throughout the Roman Empire. When they reached Antioch, they shared the good news of Jesus with the Greek pagans – “for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26, NIV).
What made them Christians? It wasn’t about how “holy” they were or how Christ-like they might or might not have been. It was simply about their focus on Christ – on His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. They loved to share about Jesus.
And why not? He mingles with sinners. He calls the outcasts. He touches the untouchables.
A hypocrite is not someone who fails to live up to the ideals of his or her principles. (If that were the definition, then we are all hypocrites, for no one observes perfect congruity between belief and practice. Who doesn’t eat junk food even though we know it’s unhealthy? Who gets adequate hours of sleep? Who does not procrastinate?) A hypocrite is someone who pretends to have virtues that he or she dos not actually possess.
You are not a hypocrite if you claim to be a Christian but fail to live a sinless life. A Christian is someone who recognises that we are all sinners and that we need Jesus Christ to forgive and represent us in our place. A Christian is someone who is honest about his or her vulnerability to selfishness, someone who is not ashamed to claim Jesus’ righteousness as our own.
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
It is only when we pretend to be holy on our own, or when we mask how we’re really doing, that we become Christian hypocrites. It’s time to stop that kind of Christian identity theft. Let’s give the name of Christianity back its original dignity by taking our mind off of ourselves – the anxiety about what others think, the desire to please or be praised – and by returning homage to the matchless Person of Jesus Christ.
by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14