Monday, August 5, 2019

"False Labels"

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46

A few years ago I had to replace the automatic dishwasher in my kitchen. I went to the store and found one that was called a "Quiet Pack". Supposedly it meant that it didn't make any, or much, noise while it was running. I had seen these "quiet" models advertised on television and thought that I would get one since I had to replace it anyway. Let me tell you something about that dishwasher-- it is anything but quiet!!! If I run it at all, I run it during the middle of the night because it is so loud that you can hear it all over the house when it's running.

Just because something has a label doesn't mean that it is what the label says it is. There are many people who wear the label "Christian" but their conduct is any thing but Christ like.  They say they are a Christian but they are mean tempered, full of pride, jealousy, hate, always seeking revenge, they make threats and bully others in order to get their way, they are hard-hearted, critical, complaining, seeking to destroy others, spiteful, uncaring, fearful, greedy, adulterers, liars, blasphemers, immoral, and so on.  They may profess to be a Christian, but the proof is in their actions. Just like my dishwasher- its label "professes" to be quiet but when it goes into action it is totally the opposite.

Do your actions portray something different than what you are professing? Are you labeled as a Christian but don't act like one? Do you say you are a Christian but you don't walk in love, you have no joy, are always tearing people down with your comments, or you aren't following Jesus wholeheartedly? Then all you have is a label and no proof to back it up.

A label doesn't make it so. There could be a dozen labels on my dishwasher that make claims of being a quiet running one, but when you turn it on and it makes a lot of noise, the label means nothing, it makes a false claim. You can wear a dozen or more labels that make claims to Christianity- church member, sing in the choir, give to missions, have been baptized, etc, etc- but if you don't back up what you profess with the actions that support the claim, then your profession is nothing more than a false label.

Have a great day. The proof of something is not in the label it has, but in the actions that back up the claim.

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