That's grace, baby!

Philemon 1:6
That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

I think that we spend far too much time trying to be good examples to others. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with being a good example; it’s the trying part that I struggle with. Try to be nice? Well that says to me that you must not be nice to start off with, if, in fact, you have to try to be nice.

Its this “try” attitude of “sharing faith” that leads the rest of the unchurched world to believe that Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites. We spend so much of our time trying to be good so that we’ll be able to share our faith by our example of living a right life that we forget all about our faith. More importantly, we forget where we have placed our faith. When we try to be the example so that we can better share our faith, then where is our faith? Is it in Christ or is it in our trying?

This was why Paul wrote these words to Philemon. Surely he knew that Philemon was going to be trying to live a Christian lifestyle. But Paul knew, because he preached the grace of Jesus Christ so radically, that in all of Philemon’s trying, he would never be effectual in communicating his faith in Christ to others. He knew that the people would see the works, the efforts, the failures, and missed marks of Philemon in his own “faith walk” and question his Christianity. Doesn’t this sound familiar?

Look at today’s world and how they view Christians. People see the Christian church as a flock of hypocrites. We’re viewed as a bunch of people who “share their faith” by giving rules and regulations that we can’t even follow. Thus, we perpetuate the stereotype that Christians are hypocrites. Not only that, when we represent our faith in Christ as a to list of how to live right we make the cross pointless and void the finished work of Jesus (Galatians 5:4).

The truth is this: the best way to share our faith is to remind ourselves of, and completely embrace, what Christ has already done in our lives. It’s when we recognize all of the good things that Christ has done in us and for us, through the cross, that we are able to share our faith. Faith isn’t rules, regulations, or right living; its the understanding and acceptance that Christ paid the price for all sins, redeemed humanity from all curses, and finished all the work at the cross.

Recognize that “...every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” means health, wealth, happiness, success, prosperity, love, joy, peace, etc. These things are in you because Christ has placed them there. It is His work that is in you now, not yours. By acknowledging these truths, your faith will be communicated to the world, not by trying, but by the grace of God that lives within you. When people see you, when they meet you, they will instantly recognize your faith. Even in sharing your faith, Christ does the work. That’s grace, baby!