Actions Speak Louder than Words
Posted on May 14, 2010 by Kris
Filed Under For Further Thought... | 1 Comment |
When I logged on to Facebook today, a friend of mine had a very interesting post. He said:
The “Jesus,” “Church,” & “Bible” in your
Likes & Interests are undermined by the spaghetti-strap you wear in
your profile pic
I have to give a hearty “Amen” to that! This got me thinking about how we as Christians try to teach others about what it means to be a Christian, only to put forth an image of hypocrisy. Far too often, we want to talk the talk, but not walk the walk. We want to tell people just how righteous we are, but in reality we want to live life according to our own selfish desires.
How often do Christians give lip service to the concept of “modesty” but in application we see absolutely no difference between them and the world? The same principle is true for things like anger, jealousy, profanity and the like. What does the rest of the world see in us? Whatever they see in us will certainly stick with them a whole lot longer than what they hear from us. If I tell my neighbor that being a Christian is about reforming my life, giving up sinful practices, and then he sees me participating in them, what desire will he have to make changes? If I condemn another person’s use of profanity, and then they hear me using euphemisms that mean the exact same thing (and draw the same language to mind) then why would they think they need to make any change? If I teach another that anger is wrong, and then my children hear me angrily yelling at someone in a near by car because they did something I didn’t like, what lesson have I taught them?
Let’s face it: we can talk continually about how righteous we are, but if we don’t live the life, people will see us for what we are, which is a phony, a hypocrite. This is so very important in “real life” but it is also important in cyberspace. I think that people forget that when they put something on Facebook or Twitter that it is there for everyone to see. A person’s reputation can be destroyed by one post, or one picture. Consider what the apostle Paul wrote to the young evangelist, Timothy:
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
We will certainly be an example, the only question is: What kind of example? If we are being immodest, using profane language, showing fits of temper, acting jealously or any other such thing, then we are putting forth a bad example. It does not matter how much we might preach against those things, if we don’t put them out of our lives. And yes, you do undermine your claim of Christianity if you are putting pictures of yourself on Facebook in which you are dressed in spaghetti straps, or any other immodest garb. No matter how much you protest, those who see your pictures get the point.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to read the previous post on Dressing to Profess Godliness.
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Yes, what people see in us is what we teach them whether we yell loudly to try to cover up what we look like or not. I see so many women wearing gold crosses around their neck that is almost hidden by their breasts and they would want me to think they are Christians and very spiritual? It would almost be laughable if it were not so pathetic!