An Appeal to Moral Constancy

Some of us have seen enough.

There are way too many celebrities and role models today trying to convince us that their Christian faith is worthy of our consideration. That’s not to say many aren’t sincere about what they publicly profess. If someone claims to follow Jesus Christ, I have to take him at his word. Perhaps he does.

But I might need to question the consistency of his conduct.

Because if he announces that, through his role or occupation, he wants to bring glory to God, I can’t ignore his behavior outside of those parameters. After all, this is a statement that could hardly be taken out of context. It’d be disingenous to say that I give glory to God only at certain times or in specific situations.

I either do or I don’t.

For example, if I declare my lifestyle to be one which brings honor to the Lord, yet remain unmarried while continuing to shack up with my girlfriend, I might run into some credibility issues with those who are aware that the practice of fornication is still regarded as abhorrent behavior in the eyes of their Creator.

If my claim to faith in Christ is real, then I’m not my own anymore. I was bought at a price. I should glorify God with my body. [1Cor. 6:19-20] I might even fail to do that on occasion, but I’d never risk the Lord’s gift of life in the next age because of some bad habits I can’t seem to break in this one.

Now I’d rarely take exception to what another man believes. If he wants to worship the moon because he’s convinced it’s made of green cheese, that’s his choice. But if he says He belongs to Christ, his behavior should steadily reflect what both Jesus and the apostolic authors taught in the Bible.

And we who make the same claim in Christ’s service must be willing to refute error, especially to one another. [see: Eph. 5:11; Ja. 5:19-20; Titus 1:7-9; 2Tim. 3:16-4:2; Gal. 6:1]

So, who am I to judge another?

I’m the one who sees the Word of God being dragged through the mud because His soldiers are either too afraid or too lazy to stand up against the world’s new standards of moral conduct. And I’m the one who notices what my children and grandchildren are doing and not doing because of what they’re noticing and what they’re not noticing.

[Is it wrong to “judge?” see: The Second Biggest Lie.]

But, as an ambassador for Jesus Christ too, I’m also one who welcomes a brother to examine my behavior on a regular basis as well. If I’m offending my Master in any way, I need to know about it.

If my life is about bringing glory to God, I’ve got to be consistent doing it.

“Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful [of sinning].” [1Tim. 5:20]