This is the second installment of my posts pressing into the slogan that guides this small slice of the internet. We have tagged ourselves as being a media source that proclaims “Living Content”. I spent the first post talking about what the word living meant to me (you can view it here). Today we are going to look closer at the word content.
In churches and other Christian circles, the same words and phrases often make their way to the top. One of those is “you may be the only Bible some people will read” and as corny as it sounds, it is true. Christians have a mantle upon their life that cannot be removed. As you live your life, the mantle does not fall off or is something that you can remove when you feel like it. Rather, it embellishes you and clothes you. You are the content that someone is reading. You are the representation of Christ to everyone you meet.
Living Content, What Are You Talking About?
Tensions are higher in the United States than any time I can remember. Christians must be reminded that we are representing Jesus. Others will judge the content we display. It is too easy to get caught in the midst of the barrage of Facebook posts, ranting around the water cooler, or celebrating a win that we forget the ultimate calling placed upon us.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul dropped a literary bombshell with Ephesians 4:1. He begged his readers to live a life worthy of the calling they had received. A high and noble calling is placed on every life when they turn to Christ for salvation. Your calling is as a son or daughter of the Most High. I was dead and am now alive.
Where Are You?
I have friends on both sides of the political aisles as well as ones that voted for a third party candidate who all claim to follow Christ. Now is not the time for Christians on the Republican side of the fence to proclaim your candidate as the God-send to save you. It is not the time for Christians on the Democratic side of the fence to claim that those on the other side are racists or bigots or whatever you desire to call them. This is the time for Christians from both sides to seek reconciliation. At the end, we must learn to sit across from one another and realize that underneath our flesh and bone we are more the same than we are different.
After all, Jesus told us that the peace makers would be blessed (Matthew 5:9). Please notice Jesus said the peace makers not the Democrats or the Republicans or the Clintons or the Trumps. Those that strive to create peace will be blessed, not just the ones that talk about it.
Live. It. Out.
On this Friday morning, only a few mornings after one of the most divisive and nasty presidential elections in history, have you lived worthy of that calling? Have you treated those on the other side of the political aisle with grace and humility? Have you spent more time plugging your ears and ignoring the other side than striving to understand their viewpoint? This is what it means to be living content. We are the content people are reading. Is your life worth reading?
