Is Our Testimony Falling on Deaf Ears?

The feeders outside my windows are getting their fill. Father, may I be filled and directed by You in my endeavors, both now and throughout my day. Amen.

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I recently was part of a conversation where I was reminded of a life-impacting incident that took place a while back. It is disheartening, to say the least.
Person “A” was greatly impacted, spiritually, by a relationship with Person “B”. “B” was very vocal about their relationship with Christ and never passed up an opportunity to interject opinions and thoughts (nothing wrong there). “B” was someone that “A” looked up to. “A” had even started attending church with “B,” and their families had grown close because of their relationship.
In their time together, “A” began to notice some disturbing things in “B”’s life – “B” often spoke in disparaging terms about others behind their backs. One time, “A” was privy to a conversation that “B” had with someone else where “B” very clearly – and strongly – advised the third party to out-and-out lie. Red flags were going up.
An additional major incident totally disconnected them…and disappointingly, it pretty much disconnected “A” from the church as well.
I’m going to be pretty blunt here. If you struggle in living out your Christianity and yet continue to rail on everyone and everything that is subpar spiritually, then maybe you had best should hold your tongue! I genuinely believe that “A” still highly regards Christ in life, but regular church attendance doesn’t really factor into it. (I do want to stress here that though it may be a challenge, we must fix our eyes on Jesus and not people. “A” wanted me to make sure this was clear. They are still struggling with the impact of the situation, but realize the need to move beyond it, taking their eyes off the problem and placing them on the Answer, for only Jesus can fix a good many of our problems.)
Just because we tout Christ and His many awesome attributes, it doesn’t cover up the disparaging things we do in opposition to His mindsets and goals for our lives. Actions truly speak louder than words. If we struggle in those areas and don’t really do anything to correct them, if we continue in those ways of living, if we never ask for forgiveness of our fellow men and women when we are out of line, then we are being hypocrites through and through. And a hypocrite’s testimony, no matter how loud, falls on deaf ears.
I have stressed multiple times that I am in no way perfect. I struggle. I stumble. I flat out fall on my face. But I put great effort into not saying something I shouldn’t say. I diligently strive not to drag Christ’s name through the mud. To a certain degree, it may be part of my personality, but it is imperative that I live out what I preach – and not just from the pulpit.
Lord Jesus, You know us through and through. You readily realize that a portion of the hymn O Worship the King’s text very aptly applies to us all: Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail…May we find our strength in You, not in ourselves. May we regularly fall at Your feet, asking for forgiveness. May we strive to be transparent to those who are watching us. May You be seen in us above all other things. Amen.

Dec 6^th, 2023, Wed, 12:36 pm