This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

 

 

     How many of you know of Rowan Atkinson? He's a well known British actor, best known probably as either Edmund Blackadder from the comedy Blackadder, or as the lovable but hapless Mr. Bean, from the comedy of the same name. I loved Mr. Bean. The character never spoke, but Atkinson could have you almost on the floor laughing with his facial expressions and physical comedy. He seems like the funniest guy in the world. But then a few years ago I read an interview he had given to an entertainment magazine. He said that his reputation as a comedian was a problem – because he really wasn't a funny guy. He didn't tell a lot of jokes and he wasn't the life of the party. Basically what he said was that he takes his comedy very seriously, and the article included a photo of a very serious looking Rowan Atkinson – who didn't look at all like Mr. Bean. The point was that when he was being funny, Rowan Atkinson was putting on a performance. He wasn't being himself. There was a disconnect between the public and private Rowan Atkinson. And it occurred to me that Christians can fall into the same trap. We come to church or do “church-y” things during the week and look like the best and most faithful Christians around, but what are we like when no one's looking. Is it an act we put on for public consumption, or does our faith in Jesus really make us change the way we live – publicly and privately?

 

     It's a sad fact that Christians have not always presented a pretty picture to the world. We don't always put our best face forward. All too often we fail to show the beauty of love, the beauty of Christ, the holiness of God. And all too often the end result is that the world turns away from us, dismissing us as inauthentic at best, or hypocrites at worst. For the most part the problem isn't that we don't want people to know that we're Christians. Yes, that's part of it for some people, I suppose. The whole “religion is a private thing so keep it to yourself” mentality affects some people and probably makes them reluctant to talk about their faith. But there are still a lot of people who are willing to publicly declare themselves Christians. Over the 2000 years that our faith has been in existence, people have done a lot of different things to publicly declare themselves to be Christians. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday – the beginning of Lent. Yes, spring really is on the horizon! One of the traditions in a lot of churches is that on Palm Sunday the palm leaves that are used in church are burned to ash, and then the next year a special Ash Wednesday service is held early in the morning, at which people are invited forward at the end to have the sign of the cross put visibly on their forehead with the leftover ashes from the year before. The point then is that you're supposed to leave that ash cross on your forehead for the rest of the day as a public sign of your faith in Jesus. That's one example of how Christians identify themselves. There are others. Lots of people wear crosses – to the point at which the cross has unfortunately become more of a fashion accessory than a sign of faith. Some people wear special clothing, some people put bumper stickers on their cars. At one point in time some people even had special haircuts that identified themselves as Christians. There have been all sorts of options. But what is the true mark of a Christian? How do you really identify yourself as a Christian? 

 

     In all honesty, the outward marks really don't cut it. Anyone can wear a cross, or put a bumper sticker on their car. What does that really accomplish? I'm not knocking it – I often wear a cross myself. I'm just saying that fashion or car accessories aren't what being a Christian is all about. And, in spite of the fact that I'm wearing a cross at this moment, I'm not entirely sure what Jesus would think of me or anyone else wearing a cross, or of people putting bumper stickers on their car. Perhaps He'd be concerned that we were trying to draw attention to ourselves for being good Christians rather than trying to do something constructive to actually demonstrate what a good Christian actually does. Perhaps He would suggest that we stop trying to show off and that instead we start trying to show others the love and grace of God. I don't know. Jesus might not be all that pleased with the fact that the instrument of torture on which He died is now a fashion statement. Maybe that's why the earliest Christians didn't use the cross as an outward symbol of faith. They used the fish most commonly. Other Christian symbols either worn or used in artwork from the early years of the faith were the dove, a ship, the lyre, an anchor, a lamb and a shepherd, and it wasn't until about 400 years after Christ's death that the cross started to be regularly used. But whatever symbols we might use, there are outward ways that we can demonstrate our Christian faith. Jesus gave us one suggestion very clearly. John 13:33-35 tealls us:

 

     “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

 

     Outwardly, love is the sign. In one way or another that's been the focus of what I've been saying for the last few weeks. Love is the outward sign of a Christian and of a Christian's character. Jesus called love a command. For a Christian, it's not an emotion that we feel for those we really, really like. It's a command; it's a way of life; it's the ultimate sign that we “get” the gospel and its message. And, this passage contains one of those very big little words that can tell us a great deal. Hear it again: 

 

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

     The very big little word is “if.” There's an “if” involved in this that helps us to understand the significance of love being the main sign of a Christian community. This is a command. It's one of the very few “commands” that Christ ever gave. This is what we're supposed to do as Christians – and although in this passage it's specifically about loving one another, Christ also talked about loving our neighbour as well. Well, a command can be violated. We don't have to love, I suppose. I know a lot of Christians who don't come across as very loving – but the point is that love is our weakness. But is visible obedience to a command enough of a witness to our character? Here I think is where Paul was going in the passage we read from 1 Corinthians:

 

“... judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.”

 

     A few days ago I read these words: “the true mark of a Christian's character is how a Christian behaves when no one is watching.” Real faithfulness and real character isn't measured by how we act when we're in the presence of others. Anyone can put on an act, after all. Anyone can look good. The real test of our faithfulness and our character is what we do when we don't have to put on an act – when people don't know we're Christians. Do we still behave like those who love and follow Christ? That's when the rubber hits the road. When it's just between me and God – and nobody else knows – do I still choose the way of Jesus?

 

     You see, that's really the true mark of a Christian's character. Do we choose the way of Jesus even when no one's looking, or even when no one knows? Is there anything hidden in the darkness of secrecy that calls our motives into question? 

 

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