How is Your Spiritual Health?
Over the past few weeks we have all had several very effective and efficient ways to stop the spread of something, emphasized to us again and again by those ‘in the know.’ Wear a mask, cover your mouth, go get tested if you have symptoms, avoid contact with those not in the same health condition as yourself, and self-quarantine to kill the transmission of the condition.
Are you contagious?
Sadly, these are some of the very same things that may have contributed to killing off the spread of Christianity over the years as well. Some may have failed to spread their Christianity because they constantly ‘wear a mask.’ That is to say, they pretend to be something other than what they are, depending on the crowd that they are in. The Bible term for that is hypocrisy (See Matt. 23). Others may have ‘covered their mouth’ instead of speaking up for Jesus at the slightest sign of resistance or differences (Matt. 10:27-33). Some others, while perhaps showing some positive signs or symptoms of Christianity, may have failed to constantly test themselves to see if their faith and example were truly as contagious as they ought to be (2 Cor. 2:9, 13:5; 1 Ptr. 1:3-9; Rev. 2:10). Still others may have made a practice of avoiding any significant social contact or interaction with those outside of Christ, hence being unable to spread the soul-saving gospel of Christ to them (Matt. 9:9-13; 1 Cor. 9:19-23). All of this, while last but not least, some Christians may have self-quarantined or left their Christian convictions and behavior behind whenever they went out, only letting them see the light of day on the occasional Sunday wherin they might have decided to attend worship (Cf. Matt. 23:14, 23, 25).
Let us all make sure going forward, that when it comes to spreading the life-giving, soul-saving, grace-laden gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we make it a constant and concentrated practice to NEVER: ‘wear a mask,’ ‘cover our mouth,’ ‘fail to test,’ ‘avoid contact’ (practice ‘spiritual distancing’), or ‘quarantine’ (leave behind) our Christian convictions and behavior wherever we go. Jesus’ last words before leaving for heaven? (If I may paraphrase): ‘Christianity; go spread it to everyone’ – See Matt. 28:18-20!