Am I a True Christian When Nobody’s Watching Me?

I normally get up at 5 O’clock in the morning to get ready for work; this particular morning I got up at 4 O’clock and then I did my morning devotional prayer. As I was praying, the question of “am I truly a follower of Christ if no one is watching me crossed my mind? I felt convicted right on the spot as this thought digging through inside of my head. I think this is rather an essential question that we as Christians ought to ask ourselves. Are we genuinely following Christ’s mandate in our daily lives? I know I haven’t been perfect and probably will never be able to attain a plateau of righteousness or perfection. My walk with Christ has to be practical in order to honor Him and give Him the glory that He deserves. I can’t preach the gospel sincerely if I am lacking the ability to apply what Jesus expects from me to do in my personal life.

Generally speaking, we’re all perfect Christians when we are being watched whether it’s in Church or in any other social settings for that matter. We also act so perfectly towards each other with compassion and love when we are interacting with one another in plain view. Conversely, in our private lives we are not who we ought to be at least that is how I feel and I am sure some of you probably feel the same way.

Are we still saved when we are not who we ought to be in private life as Christians? The answer is categorically NO! I say this with authority because the gospel is very clear on this issue. Read what Paul said "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, nor backstabber shall inherit the kingdom of God." Corinthians 6:9-10.

A consistent pattern of any of the above sins can rob us from the kingdom of God. I know some of you Christians may disagree with me on this issue, by saying, Jesus died on the cross while we were sinners. That may very well be, but we need to change and feel guilty and shameful when our private life is in contrary to what the bible teaches. The pastors as the leaders of the Church must preach the applicability of the gospel in our life not just focusing on what went wrong in ancient cities such as Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and Philippi. Paul’s epistles to various churches addressed the very same fundamentally moral and spiritual issues that we as Christians need to address. If we are not practical Christians or not being genuine Christians in our private lives then we have no business to call ourselves the followers of Christ.

Being a Christian is not to be a player to get engaged in some games to win the hearts and minds of the unbelievers for Christ ; being a Christian is to practice the gospel and walk with Christ daily not just on Sunday’s in Churches but every day in the rest of our days . The question is: Do you pass the litmus test of being a genuine Christian in your private life particularly, when nobody is watching you? You need to focus on this question ,and I am confident that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you what needs to be revealed.

You’re all loved.

Farhad