“Excuse Me…Are You a Christian?”

Have you ever been at a social function or at work and someone comes up to you and says, “Are you a Christian?” How did you react to that? Did you look for a place to run and hide? Did you mumble some incoherent generalities about God? Or, did your eyes light up and you boldly replied with a big smile?

I think many of us have experienced this before and have responded with various reactions to people’s enquiries about our faith. As Christians, (Christ-Ones), we are called to represent Christ and everything he stands for in the world. When people ask this question and questions like it, hopefully it is because they have seen something different in us, and they want to find out for sure what that is. In that moment, it is our duty to stand firm on the front line for Christ and declare our allegiance to Him, because He is the one who stood condemned in our place.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us.” God has called us to be His church in this world, and we are to be the ‘window’ for others to look in and see Him. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. Peter found out the hard way in Matthew 26:75. Jesus told Peter that he would deny him 3 times the night He was betrayed and arrested. When the rooster crowed the next morning, Peter had done just that, and in his brokenness he wept bitterly. This was a tough lesson, but it changed Peter forever. As a result he became one of the strongest apostles in the early church, and gave his life for the sake of spreading the gospel.

We have a responsibility to demonstrate an declare the gospel in our work place, social circles, and our family functions. This is not an easy job in many work places, groups, and families, for the message of the gospel still an offense to many today. Despite this fact, we are to show ourselves worthy of Christ’s calling in our lives and stand firm in our faith.

1 Peter 3:15 implores us to be ready for these opportunities. “…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” This is our job as Christians. We are to stand for Jesus Christ and help others to see Him, and how He has changed our lives. This should not only be our job, but also our joy, and should be done gently and respectfully.

The people that we know and work with are watching us every day. They know that we are Christians, even if we have never had “the conversation.” We should be careful with our words and actions, so that in our conversations we may bring glory to God. Each day before we head out into the world, our mission field, this is something that we should pray about.

So…how will you respond the next time someone steps up and and says to you, “Excuse me, are you a Christian?”