Are You A Christian?

A few years ago, a man left his farm and went to Washington to spend a few days with his famous son, a United States Senator. One evening at a social function in the nation's Capital, the Senator's father was introduced to the Ambassador from Belgium. They had hardly exchanged greetings until this man asked a surprising question of the Ambassador. He asked, "Sir, are you -a Christian?" The answer never came, for the embarrassed Senator interrupted, changed the conversation, and hurried his father away. It wasn't long after that time that this elderly man came down with pneumonia and died. Among the many flowers at the funeral were some roses from the Belgian Ambassador. Attached to those roses was a note which read, "He was the only man in America who asked if I was a Christian."

So many times we find ourselves in the same situation of Martha in whose home Jesus visited. She was complaining to Christ that her sister Mary was not helping her with the meal preparation. Jesus said, "Thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful." (Luke 10:41-42). I want you to think about that statement for a minute. We all have our own problems that bear heavily upon our minds. Some of us are concerned about our health or perhaps the health of a loved one. Some of us are worried over financial problems. Some of us are disturbed over domestic problems today. Maybe it's a marital problem, or a problem parents are having with a child, or possibly even a problem that children are having with parents. We could go on and on naming various types of problems that are often on our minds from the time we awake until we go to sleep at night. Yet, we have another problem so much greater in magnitude that it ought to overshadow these other problems. Man's greatest problem is his lost soul. We need to recognize that the solving of this problem is the most important task we have. It's the most important thing we can do. Jesus asks, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26.).

There is only one way through which we can save our souls, and that is through Jesus Christ. The Lord taught in John 14:6, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." And just before that he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He is simply saying, "If you are going to Heaven, you are going to have to go as a Christian." There is no other way. Hear the words of Acts 4:12: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Here again, we are simply being taught that there is only one way to be saved; that is by being a Christian.

When we realize that to be a Christian is to be saved and vice versa, the question, "Am I a Christian?", becomes the paramount question and concern in our lives.

2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." Those who want to be saved will be interested in truthfully determining whether or not they are Christians. This requires, first of all, a knowledge of what the Bible teaches, and secondly, self examination. And as an individual begins searching for the answer to the question, "Am I a Christian?" - he should understand that the Bible uses the label "Christian" in a much more restrictive way than our world uses it. The definition of the people is not the definition of God. Since God will judge us, it is his definition of a Christian we must learn.

To borrow an illustration from one prominent preacher, our lives are like flagstaffs. Some flagpoles are tall and prominent, some not so tall and prominent. But the glory of the flagstaff is not its size but the colors it flies. A small flagpole carrying the right flag is more glorious than a tall, prominent flagpole with the wrong flag on it. The preacher who used this illustration said: "I suppose the most satisfying thing when this life is over will be the ability to say, 'I am ashamed that I was not a taller, straighter flagstaff; but I am not ashamed of the colors I flew'." My friend, are you flying the banner of Christ? Are you a Christian?

George Merritt

A Special Welcome to our Visitors

Please fill out a blue visitor card so that we might have a record of your visit. If needed, there is a nursery available at the rear of the auditorium. Bible classes for all ages are available Sundays at 10:00 am and Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. We hope that you will join us for these studies. Please come and worship with us again soon.

Youth - News & Notes

Cayo Costa State Park - October 13-16, 2000

Remember in Prayers:

Everette Riggenbach - Jim Treece - Cathy Jenson - Naomi Morton