Have you ever said to someone ‘I’m a Christian’ Sometimes when we are talking to people who are not church-goers and especially if they are going through a tough time we might say ‘I will add you to my prayer list’ or ‘I’m a Christian and I will pray for you’. What might those words mean to them?
For a few years I worked for a mail order book seller specialising in Maritime books and we sent parcels around the country and across the world. It was a small office and when I started I was wearing a bracelet with the words from Hebrews 13:3 written on it – ‘Remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them’. It was at the time when Terry Waite was a hostage and the bracelet was to remember and pray, not just him, but for all those who were hostages at that time. Terry had been in Beirut negotiating the release of those hostages held by Islamist extremists when he was then taken hostage and spent the next 4 years in solitary confinement.
My boss was interested to know what the bracelet meant and in our first coffee break asked about it – was it from a boyfriend, or a charity or…? So I explained that I was a Christian and why I was wearing it. Immediately another lady who worked there said ‘Humph – these Christians are all hypocrites aren’t they? They think they’re better that anyone else’. Obviously I tried to explain and after I’d been there some time we became friends. I left there eventually because I was involved in lots of things in the church and didn’t have time to go to work.
When I moved a pile of papers in my very untidy office I found this poem and it reminded me of that lady.
When I say that ‘I am a Christian’ I am not shouting that ‘I am clean living’,
I’m whispering ‘I was lost, but now I’m found and forgiven’
When I say that ‘I am a Christian’ I don’t speak of this with pride,
I’m confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say that ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say that ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not bragging of success,
I’m admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say ‘I am a Christian’ I still feel the sting of pain,
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner who received God’s grace – somehow!
We are living in the wonderful resurrection glow of Easter and we are reminded once again that Jesus died to forgive our sin – not to make us perfect – but to give us open access to a God who loves us with an extravagantly generous love and who invites us to give our lives to Him so that we can receive His forgiveness and His strength and power to live for Him and share His love with others through the power of his Holy Spirit living within us. Living for Him changes us and slowly begins to make us more like Jesus.
Lord, when I say I am a Christian help me, in my weakness, to show the world around me that I belong to you and I pray that the light of your presence and love my shine through me. Amen.