To bear the name ‘Christian’ isn’t enough

Published 8:36 am Wednesday, April 1, 2020

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: Christianity has become a cultural cliche. I meet many people who identify with the Christian faith but their lives do not reflect a different way of living from almost any other religion. Is this acceptable according to Scripture? — C.C.

Dear C.C.: If Christianity is important at all, it is all-important. If it is anything at all, it’s everything. It’s either the most vital thing in your life, or it isn’t worth bothering with. To bear the name “Christian” isn’t enough. If our conduct doesn’t measure up to Biblical standards, condemnation will be ours. There is a startling passage in Revelation 3:1 that declares: “You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”

If we fail to let Christ be Lord and Master of our lives, we must come under the judgment of God, who said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).

Scarcely, if ever, has economic prosperity been accompanied by such widespread unhappiness, lawlessness and rebellion. A hostile world is seething with hatred, intrigue, lawlessness and godless aggression. The wicked prosper and in many areas of the world the righteous suffer. People are confused, unstable and unhappy. The heart of the world is aching for peace; aching to fill the deep void.

The prophet Habakkuk once stood in the midst of a people who had been showered with every conceivable blessing but who had lost their spiritual sanity, and he cried, “O Lord, revive Your work… in the midst of the years make it known!” (Habakkuk 3:2).

This is the heart cry — and the greatest need — of people everywhere. Only one can bring such peace and fill man’s emptiness and that’s God, and He has chosen to do this through His one and only Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)