Managing to look like a Christian.

     Sure, we think we look like Christians.  What do we look like to others though?  Do we look like what we think Christians look like?  Do we look like what they think Christians look like?  It's, in part, a matter of definition.  For instance when I tell my someone I love them they may hear "great!, He's going to take out the garbage and do that task for me!"  While I meant, "Thanks for being there for me."  You might say to your children, "I'd really like you to clean your room."  They hear, "I have two more warnings to go!"  Definitions are shaped in part by what we learn and part by what our environment can tolerate.  We come to situations with preconceived ideas of what will transpire.  For instance, we take our car to the mechanic and he says, "This looks like major repair."  We hear, "Just how much will this cost and inconvenience me."  We don't go first to what he means by major repair.  While the repair might be cheap it may just take more time than we have to leave the car with them.  Our children, friends and family especially need to know how we define our lives.  That goes for our idea of what a Christian is as well.  My daughter was going out with me one day and I had to ask her to go change her clothing as it wasn't appropriate for where we were going.  She did so because she knew our Christian witness was what was at stake.  That and she wanted something and needed me to buy it!
     Christians have expectations too.  For instance, I expect Christians to do the best they can with what they have in the time of need.  However, that being said, I've fallen down on that one many times.  Part of the Christian definition then begs for grace and forgiveness.  Next comes the issue of integrity.  Was the "failure" on my part just another choice knowing that I could get away with something or was it an honest mistake?  My attitude and motive are now in question.  Following this rabbit trail we come to what others can expect from me.  Christians have a different idea than non-Christians.  Christians have a higher expectation in some areas and lower in other areas.  Non-Christians usually have a higher expectation in most areas.  William James once said, "We may have a God in heaven who forgives us our sins but mankind does not."  This is where the Christian needs to understand the effect of their witness in their world.  How we live determines how others live with us.  If I live my life condemning non-Christians, others will live condemning me and my Christian witness.  Many churches, denominations and sects have alienated the world because of radical views proclaimed.  I don't want that to be part of my witness or expectations of others.
     Generally speaking, we need to live life in such a way that others want what we have.  Demanding others seek what we have or demanding others succumb to what we expect isn't that solution.  The solution comes in our being what we need to be for Jesus.  When I am in right relationship with Jesus, my Christian witness is what Jesus wants and not what I think it should be.  When I am not in a right relationship with Jesus, others are seeing Steve and not Jesus.  Who in their right mind would want to follow me?!  If I truly want others to see Jesus then all of my life needs to be dedicated to Jesus.  That means, as Paul says, "it's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."  That doesn't mean that we soften our view, become politically correct or give in to the demands of the masses.  It means that we stand where Christ would want us to stand every day in every situation with every bit of surrender to Jesus we can muster.  When we do this, we do not need to manage to look like a Christian for we will look like Jesus.