We are Aliens

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
1 Peter 2:11-12


"I am not coming to church because it is just full of a bunch of hypocrites." We have all heard this or maybe have even said it. I have always said this is not true, but is it? I am not saying it is a valid reason to not come to church, because it certainly is not. What I am saying is this...
As Christians we are supposed to look, act, and sound different than those who are not Christians. Can people tell the you are a Christ follower just by how you act at work or at school? If not, than we are not being aliens in this world. If we are acting just like the world then there is a possibility that hypocrisy will creep into our lives. Hypocrisy is defined as he practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to  which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense. In other words it means, saying one thing and doing another. We go to church, we tithe, we will even go on the summer mission trip to Europe, but we go back to work or school and start talking bad about someone. We all have done this at some point. So guess what? We are ALL hypocrites. So how do we stop this problem? We have to check ourselves everyday. We have to ask ourselves, "Is this lining up with what the Lord tells me?" We need to do so because  non-Christians are going to accuse us; like by calling us hypocrites. And when we are doing right they will not be able to accuse us because they will see our good deeds and will HAVE to glorify God! 
So let me simplify all of this. Do not say one thing and do another thing. Act, sound, and look different than the lost world, and live good lives among sinners so that they will have to glorify God. Let's stop giving people the excuse of not coming to church because "the church is full of a bunch of hypocrites." 


Love God. Love others. 
Love yourself!
-Hannah