In Word Only?

While recently watching a weigh-in for a professional fight it occurred to me that we can certainly talk a good game. Not only with our lips, but with our whole persona. The fighters used their eyes, face and entire bodies to attempt to intimidate the opposition. As the two boxers went through the pre-interview press conference, the weigh-in and finally the actual interviews, it was pretty amazing to see the broad spectrum of mugging that transpired. Each of the fighters spent a lot of time and energy to make make their opponent back down.

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We go through the same type of posturing as we make our way through the world. We put on our game face to attempt to convince others that we are a Christian. Is that how you go through the world? 

Jesus gave special instruction to his followers just before He left them. He outlined the tasks he wanted them to do and the methods to be used to reach the world. James 1:22 says we are to be doers of the Word, not merely hearers of it. While the Apostles understood the job at hand, it was something else to go out and do it. They did succeed in spreading the Word from one end of the world to the other. They did it through modeling Jesus' life. The most effective way to spread the Word is through your actions, not your lips.

The Local Church in Evangelism.(pg. 78) points out, "When people look at our lives and see love (expecially for those who have wronged us), overflowing joy in the midst of sorrow, peace in the crises of life, patience in tribulation, and gentleness in response to hostitily, these can be supernatural evidences that we are not mere subjects to our own fleshy emotions. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out the life to which the Lord has called us.The supernatural working of the Spirit will not always be spectacular or sensational, but it is convincing evidence of the presence and life of the Spirit within us."

Are you just mugging the fact that you are a Christian or are you out planting seeds by truly modeling Jesus Christ in your everyday life?