09/15/2026
The Gospel says, “come as you are” but you won’t stay that way. ❤️❤️
Your Christian witness matters.
The way you live matters.
I’ve heard people actually say things like: “You don’t have to make God such a big part of your life. They say things like: I know Christians who don’t go to church, don’t really talk much about Jesus, and they’re saved.”
But other professing (and a very hard emphasis on professing) Christians are not the standard for Christianity.
Christ is.
One of the great deceptions of Americanized Christianity is the idea that Jesus can simply be added to an otherwise unchanged life. A little Christianity here and there on a Sunday. A prayer when things are hard. A personalized view of God tucked somewhere among everything else we love and live for.
That is not how Scripture describes Christian conversion at all.
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)
When Christ saves someone, He does not become a small part of their life.
He becomes their life.
That does not mean Christians are sinless. We stumble. We grow slowly. We go through dry seasons. We fail and need continual repentance and grace.
But there is a very noticeable direction to the Christian life that the world can visibly see.
A Christian desires Christ. A Christian desires His Word. A Christian loves His people. A Christian increasingly hates sin and pursues holiness. A Christian confesses Christ before others.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow (emphasis on follow) Me.” (John 10:27)
There may be seasons when a genuine believer struggles, becomes spiritually weak, or is providentially separated from a local church. But we should be very careful about normalizing year after year an indifference to Christ, His Word, His people, and His commands as though Scripture gives us any reason to call that Christianity.
It doesn’t.
“Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” (1 John 2:6)
So stop looking around at people who call themselves Christians to decide how much Christianity is “enough” for you.
And look at Christ.
He is always the standard.
And although every one of us falls terribly short of Him, the heart that has truly been made alive says, “I want to know Christ. I want to follow Christ. I want to become more like Christ.”
Because when Christ truly takes hold of a life, He does not remain hidden in some forgotten corner of it.
You will hear of Him in their daily words spoken, sometimes incessantly, because the heart speaks of what it treasures.
You will increasingly see Him in the way they live, the things they love, the sin they fight, and the holiness they pursue.
And those who truly know them should have little doubt about Whom they belong to.
Because Christ has become too precious to hide, too glorious to be merely mentioned, and far too central to remain a small part of their life.
When Christ is your life, He will inevitably leave His mark on it. People will see it. People will hear it. Your life will bear witness to Whom you belong. And He is worthy of nothing less.
“Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:20–21
