Are you a 007 Christian?

I don’t know about you, but I am a diehard James Bond fan. In fact, I practically grew up watching and re-watching the James Bond films… and to this day, I will gladly plunk down in front of the old boob tube and catch a Bond thriller or weekend extravaganza of Bond classics.

I guess the mystery and excitement of James dashing around the world as a servant in Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the juice that would quench the thirst of a young mind’s wanderlust and allow me to step out of the problems and tribulations of a youthful adolescent, even if just for a few hours. I seemed to always marvel that James was so adept at hiding his true identity and pretending to be so many different people with such diverse and intriguing backgrounds.

The same can be said for so many Christians in this day and age….they profess to follow Jesus as they pass down dark halls and gather in church vestibules on Sundays; but, on Mondays, they move through the corporate world incognito ….stripped of anything that may give away their secret identity ….a son or daughter of the Most High ….a member of the family of God.

But they are not the first to travel such a path of deception as they conceal their Christian identity; just look in the Scriptures in John 12:42-43: “Nevertheless many, even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

Even in the day of Jesus, when many had seen with their own eyes the miracles he performed, they could not be persuaded to believe in Jesus….but there were many that did believe; and rather than confess Him as Lord and Savior, they kept their faith in Him a secret….they became a silent follower with a secret identity for fear of the cost.

Today, unfortunately, there are too many Christians living as 007…an agent for Jesus with a secret identity. They will profess Him to their close circle of fellow believers but they are not willing to publicly announce their allegiance and loyalty to the King of Kings for fear of the cost….the cost of ridicule, weak-mindedness or sarcasm…the cost of power or prestige or put downs….the cost of glory or praise from others that see Christ as a crutch and not as a conqueror.

How are you living in this world today…are you out in the open as a true believer that values the opinion of God over the fleeting fancies of the “in” crowd….or  are you living as a “secret agent’ that is pretending to be what the world values rather than living the values taught to us by the Savior.

As always, THE CHOICE IS YOURS ….AND YOURS ALONE!!!! God will not hold your feet to the fire until you confess Him as Lord and Savior in your life; but, He is watching …and often withholding His abundant blessings until we are stripped of our secret identity and fully functioning as a child of the King.

So go ahead and drop the pretense that you can be an 007 Christian…. Step out in faith to tell others that Jesus is INDEED the one you adore and the one to whom you answer ….and in that matter, YOU WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!!

Stepping out of the Shadows….Living in His Glorious Light,

WPQ

Thought for the day:

Living for Jesus in this day and age can be quite hard to do;

Especially when the pressure's on and it all depends on you…

So take a moment to confess, no matter the end of the story;

God is at work to bring you good and in that receive His glory.