This is a question I have been pondering over the past few weeks. Is there a set standard for what a Christians should look like in the real world? Should they behave a certain way, dress a certain way, refrain from using certain words or drinking certain drinks? I honestly don’t know the answer to these questions. I recently read transcript of an interview with Bono (it’s on Ben’s blog) where he talks about Christianity and Christ and karma vs grace. I said to Ben “I didn’t know Bono was a Christian.” Then I thought about it, if Bono is a Christian, why am I surprised? Is it because he doesn’t “look” or “act” like the way I think a Christian pop singer should act? I also recently read an article about Patricia Heaton and that she is a Christian as well (she plays on Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle). I was also surprised to hear that. Again I asked myself, “Why was I surprised?” Does my being surprised mean that they aren’t living out the Christian walk in their lives?
These are tough questions and ones which I don’t have answers for. It’s definitely made me reflect on what I think a Christian should look like in the real world. I obviously have a set of standards that Christian in the real world should follow since I’m surprised when I find out certain celebrities are Christians, but what I can’t figure out is what those standards are. Take Bono, in the same article where he talks about grace and Jesus being the son of God, he also cusses. Does that mean he isn’t a Christian, or that he isn’t representing Christianity correctly?
I think what I’m starting to realize is that there are definitely black and white issues that every Christian should follow, but there are tons of gray areas also. For example, it’s wrong to commit adultery, but can I have a drink at a bar? Can I even go to a bar? What about smoking or cussing? These are gray areas and I don’t think we can judge someone’s Christianity based off that (not that we will ever really know if they are a true Christian, that’s a heart issue and only God knows that). I shouldn’t judge them based on what they do or don’t do. Instead, I should be happy they are out there, in the world, spreading the gospel (hopefully) in their own way. And they’re telling it to people that I would never have access to.
So what does a Christian look like in the real world? Maybe eventually, I’ll be able to answer this question, but for now it’s a work in progress.
Tough questions that we all wish were black and white, but in reality they are very grey. Maybe a source of our frustration is found in the verse, ". . .man looks on the outward, while God looks at the heart." It seems to me that the head, used to look on the outside, gives us a black and white world while God looking on the heart gives us grey because we don't understand his grey.
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