Have you ever thought about that what we do and say as Christians affects the lost around us far more than it does us? Pastor Lee Strobel said one of the most profound things I have ever heard. He said, “for those of us who call ourselves Christians, we need to know that the hypocrisy meter is scanning our lives.”

In other words, those who have chosen not to believe are looking for us to fail so they can justify their non-belief. Think about the responsibility that is inherent in that statement. Do we really understand that we can be either good or bad ambassadors for Christ simply by the words we speak or the way we live our lives?

One thing I have learned about the lost is that unlike Christians, many of them really don’t know why they believe what they believe. Of course there are some exceptions, but I have found that in most cases non-believers just believe what they believe because that’s what they believe. They believe it because they feel it, which makes it real for them. As Christians, we have a core and a foundation for our beliefs. Our beliefs are based on faith, but there is also a mass of evidence (scientific, archaeological, historical etc.) to support the existence of God. On the other hand many lost people have nowhere to go to support their feeling-based belief system. With nowhere else to go, they look at us for excuses of why not to consider having God in their lives.

Do we as Christians really stop to think about how we are representing God? Have you ever thought about how the things we do and say affect the lost? Sure, we all worry about what our Christian friends and acquaintances think about the things we say and do, but how often do we really think about how non-believers view us? Understand that especially in the times that we live in the people of the world are watching us! They take notice of how we act and what we say, and they hang on to our failures to help justify their non-belief. Think about it for a minute, every time a Christian says something they shouldn’t have said, the media jumps on it like a pack of crazed animals!

We must take time to remember that we are walking, talking representatives for Jesus. What do you think a lost person thinks about that one off-color joke we tell in the break room at work? What about using that same break room to criticize another Christian or another church? What about that one off color word we still use because we have decided it’s acceptable even though it’s questionable? What about that one time we rip someone to shreds because we couldn’t control our anger? What about Christians that use the social media to criticize other people publicly?

We’ve all been guilty of these things, but we need to think about how these things affect the lost who hear them. We must give our best effort as Christians to represent God, so we don’t give those that are lost around us more reasons than already exist to hang their hats on. Non-believers should be able to look at us and wonder what it is we have, and how they can get it. This Sunday at South Side we will continue our July and August sermon series entitled “Simply Jesus” where we look at the life and teaching of Jesus and how they can impact our world. This Sunday’s topic will is “God Cares About Lost Things.” We would love to have you and your family attend and join us for a fresh cup of coffee, and worship at 10:45!

In Christ,

Barry Pettit

Lead Minister

South Side Church of Christ

www.southsidewch.com