Caring Christians Walk Differently
By Woodrow Kroll
You say that you're a Christian, but is that what people see? Do they look at you and know your life is different? Do they come to you because they know you care about them? Tough questions to start your week, but as we turn back to the Bible, we want to find answers.
We live in a very self-centered world, where everyone is out for what they can get and totally focused on their own needs, desires and agenda. It's hard to find true caring when this is the prevailing attitude. For the Christian, it's imperative that we demonstrate care for and about others as a distinguishing characteristic in our lives. The lesson week will help us understand why we need to be caring Christians and how we can put compassion to work in our lives each day.
And it's not a shortage of care among those who simply call themselves Christian as opposed to being a Buddhist or a Muslim or something else. There's a shortage of people who know the Bible. People go to church. People can quote John 3:16. They just don't seem to be as caring as they need to be as Christians today. This impacts all of us, doesn't it, folks? Because we may not adequately understand the basis for becoming a caring Christian.
That's my subject this week here on Back to the Bible. We're going to explore a very timely, and I think, a very important subject. That is--how do your neighbors know that you're a caring Christian? Today we're thinking about caring Christians walk differently.
How does the world know that you're a Christian? How do your neighbors know whether you care if they go to heaven or not? How can the people that you play with, the people that you shop with, the people that you work with--How can they tell that you're under new management?
You know walking differently may shock a lot of people. Change always seems to boggle people's minds. Isn't that true? One of the people that I remember in the past who didn't think much would change was Harry Warner. Harry Warner in 1927--part of the famous Warner Brothers, the motion picture people--Harry Warner said when talkies came out, when motion pictures that actually had people talking on them, when they came out, Harry Warner said, "People don't want to listen to actors talk." How wrong he was!
The Bible talks about our living different lives. While change may shock a lot of people, the change in your life as a Christian, a caring Christian walking differently than the way your neighbors are used to seeing you walk, that could be a very important change.
Let me take you to God's Word today. We want to think about caring Christians who walk differently. Our passage today is Romans 6. Just listen to this, the first four verses of Romans 6: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk [here's the key phrase] in newness of life."
When we are changed, when things change in our lives because Jesus Christ comes into our lives, we are different. We walk in newness of life. There is a quality about our lives that our neighbors ought to see.
What are some of those new things in your life, some of the things that indicate you're walking in newness of life? What are some of the things your neighbors ought to be able to see about you and me when we're walking in newness of life?
Well, bear in mind, that when we become a new creature in Christ Jesus, "...old things have passed away and all things become new," and that includes our position in Jesus Christ. The Bible calls this being a new man. Ephesians 4:22: "Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you may put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness."
What's this business about a "new man" and an "old man"? When you become a Christian, when you are new in Christ Jesus, you don't just put on a new lease in life. There's really a change in your behavior. You have a new vocabulary. All the dimensions of your life change. Suddenly the old things, those things that were so important to you before--old things like climbing the corporate ladder or just making more money for the sake of having more, stabbing your competitor in the back--all those old goals are gone.
Your new goals for life are very different, so different that your neighbors say, "What is wrong with him?" Some people say, "Well, he got religion." But what you actually have, friends, is a new relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything you do now, you do to please Him. You have a new destiny. You have a new direction in life, and suddenly you're longing to see your Savior face to face. You're not just a changed man or a changed woman. You're a new man; you're a new woman.
That's what it means to walk in newness of life. Caring Christians walk differently from the way they used to. Not only are you a new man or a new woman when you come to Christ as Savior, but you have a new heart. I'm not talking about a heart transplant; I'm talking about a spiritual heart. People before wondered whether or not you even had a heart, and now they see something in you they did not see before because caring Christians walk differently.
Interesting, isn't it, that God promised Israel a new heart when He drew that nation to Himself. Listen to this, Ezekiel 11:17: "I will gather you from among the peoples, assemble you from [the nations] the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.... Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a new heart."
That's what salvation really is, isn't it? Salvation is frequently seen as a change in our heart attitude toward God, but it's also a change in our heart attitude toward everyone else. Suddenly our cold heart is warmed by His love. Our stony heart is softened by His grace. Our heart is even enlarged. Our capacity to love others is increased. Paul said to the Corinthian Christians, "Oh, Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open" (2 Corinthians 6:11).
There's just something new, there's a new heart that comes when we have a new relationship with God. Here at Back to the Bible we are dedicated entirely to leading people into a dynamic relationship with God; and the only way that can happen, we believe, is through having a new heart toward Him--becoming a new man or a new woman, old things passing away, being a new creature in Christ Jesus.
My friend, your newness of life is evident to all those around you. When you exhibit being a new man or a new woman, you show everybody that you have a new heart. Now, what happened this last weekend that would tell your neighbors you have a new heart? What is it that shows to them that you're a new man or a new woman? Caring Christians are the kinds of Christians that are concerned about showing the newness of their life, not just the "same old, same old," but a new life entirely--a new man, a new heart, even a new song.
Isn't it interesting the Bible talks about a new song when we come to know Christ as Savior. After you are born again, after you trust the Lord Jesus as a Savior, your singing may not be actually be a whole lot better than it was before. But surely the lyrics of what you sing will be different. They'll be new. You have now something to sing about. Have you noticed the lyrics of so many songs that you hear in the world today, so many songs you hear on radio? The lyrics are tragic, often they're hopeless. Sometimes they're helpless. They really show the mess that this world is in, don't they?
I know a lot of you enjoy country music. I kind of get a kick out of some of the country music I hear, although the lyrics in some of the country music songs are perhaps even worse than other music. Country music is often filled with sorrow and sadness. Isn't that true? Remember the old joke about country music? Have you heard what you get when you play country songs backwards? You get your house back. You get your truck back. You get your girl back. You get your dog back.
That may be amusing to you, but my purpose isn't to knock country music. It's to show you, friends, that the world had very little to sing about. All it has to sing about is tragic. All it has to sing about is loss and helplessness and hopelessness. But, you know what? Caring Christians have a new song. When we come to Jesus Christ as Savior, God puts a new song in our heart. He puts a new song in our mouth. Psalm 40:1-3: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit [that's a picture of hell, by the way], out of the miry clay [I think that's a picture of how hell drags a person down, just like slipper clay] and set my feet upon a rock." The rock is Christ Jesus, "On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." And it says, "He established my steps." You see, a new creature in Christ Jesus now knows where he is going.
We have a new song; we have something to sing about we never had to sing about before. Our neighbors ought to know that. They ought to hear that in what they hear coming out of our house. Listen to this, "He has put a song in my mouth--praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and they will trust in the Lord." If we have something new to sing about--not the pain of the present, not the loss of this world, but the gain that comes with trusting Christ as Savior--then don't you think the people around the office ought to hear that new song? Don't you think our family ought to hear that new song? Psalm 98:1: "Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things." Psalm 33:1-2: "Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song."
If you're as old as I am, you remember a song John Peterson wrote many, many years ago. It was very meaningful to me when I was growing up. The lyrics of song say, "Why should I sing of lesser things and things that pass away, when I've a friend like Jesus now to sing about each day. I have no song sing but that of Christ my King, to Him my praise I'll bring forever more. His love beyond degree, His death that ransomed me, now and eternally I'll sing it o'er."
If I am new in Christ Jesus, my neighbors ought to hear about it. Oh, they may not like my ability to sing, but they ought to like what I'm singing about. Do you remember in the Book of Revelation, the apostle John saw One sitting on a throne with the seven-sealed scroll in His hand? And an angel proclaimed with a loud, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?" Do you remember what John did? John, was so saddened, he wept so much because a search was made of heaven and earth, and there was no one found worthy to open the scroll.
Then an elder said to him, "Do not weep, John. Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." Do you know what happened next? Jesus opened the scroll, the 24 elders fell on their faces before the Lamb of God, and they sang a new song. Revelation 5:9: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals, for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."
I want you to think about that. Of all the songs, you've heard in the last 30 days, isn't that a song worth singing? Those around us perceive that we are caring Christians because we sing a new song.
If you are a new creature in Christ Jesus today, you not only have a new song, you're not only a new man, but you have a new name. Names are awfully important in the Bible. We don't give so much thought to names anymore, but remember that the angel said to Joseph, "Joseph, son of David, so not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1). The very fact that His name was Jesus is significant.
If you've become a new creature in Christ Jesus, you have a new name too. "There's a new name written down in Glory, and it's mine!"
Your friends, your neighbors--they can't help but see it when you're a new man, when you have a new heart, when you sing a new song, and when you answer to a new name. The name is Christian. When you show them that all the good things you've received as a result of trusting Christ as Savior, you want them to receive that also. They're going to know that you're a caring Christian.
Show your neighbors the newness in your life. Give them the reason to be drawn to you like a magnet. Tell them the secret of new life, new life in Christ, abundant life and free. Be a caring Christian. There are many ways for us to show those around us that we are caring. We've considered one of those ways today. But folks, showing your friends and your neighbors that you are a new person, that old things have passed away, all things have become new--that's a great way to share Christ with them.
Think of some of the ways you can communicate through your lifestyle that you belong to Christ and that you care about others. And when you do that, make sure your neighbors know, make sure your family knows, the people you work with--make sure they all know. Because caring Christians walk differently, people know when you're a caring Christian.
A caring Christian is one who walks in newness of life, as we've seen in our study today. Many of us have been walking in this new life for some time now, and perhaps some of the freshness, the enthusiasm, the obvious differences between our old and new life has dulled a bit. It doesn't feel "new" anymore. What can we do to polish the distinctive of our walk so we can be better and more caring Christians? Well, one of the things we can do is go back and review those distinctives, get to know what they really are. If we've gotten off track, we need to go back to see where it is that we've gotten off track. That's the place to get back on. And then, I think, to spend some time alone in the wonder of God and His salvation. Just ask Him to renew a right spirit within you. That's the way to get back on track.
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