I recently watched Do You Believe. Several moments from the movie stuck with me, including one in which the pastor in the film exhorts his congregation. “What does it mean to believe?” he asks. “True biblical belief requires action. So if you truly believe that Christ died so that we may live, it should not only bring you to your knees but also bring you to your feet.” Simply put: your actions should reflect your belief.
This same concept is found in the book of James: “Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).
Another key moment involves a lawyer warning a Christian that “[the] cross is going to cost you.” Similarly, in the book of 2 Timothy, Paul warns that, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). The persecution you and I experience may not mirror the severity of that of our brothers and sisters’ at the hands of the Islamic State, but if we live boldly in the cause of Christ for any amount of time, we will be made aware of the associated cost.
Our culture abhors clear lines; black and white becomes quite gray. Issues of gender and sexuality are at the forefront of these obfuscated lines today; with a gaining momentum toward throwing out any meaningful distinctions. There are many in the Church that are swayed by these cultural pressures to conform, and struggle to redefine Christian belief in an effort to remain “relevant.”
However, the Church must remember that Christ never stopped drawing clear lines between what God expects and the cultural norm of the day; how can we do any less? It is imperative that we train our children to be courageous in the cause of Christ, to stand for truth, and to declare that truth with boldness, which brings me to my point.
They are watching you.
You are the example that they will first mold themselves after. Your actions should reflect your belief, so that your actions reflect Christ to a lost world, and so that by modeling their values after you your children are in fact modeling their values after Christ. Pray that they would imitate Christ and be brought to their knees and to their feet.