Look In the Mirror 

   “When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world.” (C. S. Lewis) 

   There are many ills in this world and in the church.  Some are caused by those in charge, but I believe most have their source in the laity.

   Many so-called Christians live as such only on Sunday and maybe a few Holy Days.  The rest of their time, they believe, belongs to them to do with as they wish.  Jesus told us, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matt 22: 37 – 40).  Note, please, that these commandments are not restricted to Sunday; they apply every day in everything we do.

   When someone who knows that we are church-going people sees us treating others badly, slandering and spreading rumors, lying, and cheating, we are telling them that our faith is a lie.  A tree is known by the fruit it produces, so too a Christian.  If our fruit is available only on certain days at certain times we are not producing good fruit, we are tainting the fruit with hypocrisy.  We are saying to others that our faith is not the most important part of our life but simply something we do on Sunday morning, most likely out of habit rather than love of the Lord.

   If we want to fix what ails society and the church we must look in the mirror.  We must make the commitment to live our faith each day regardless the circumstances.  If we cannot do this we will continue to give non-believers an excuse for their non-belief.