Focus: Genuine Christianity

Text: Ps.34:8

"O TASTE and SEE that the LORD is good..."

Genuine Christianity is verifiable. True Christianity is audible, visible and tangible. Jesus says to the people, "And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have NEITHER HEARD his voice at any time, NOR SEEN his shape" (Jh.5:37). What audacity does anyone has to talk about a God that he or she has never met? The people had never encountered God in their lives at any time. They had never heard the voice of God nor seen His form. Until we can hear and see Christ for ourselves, we would only be wasting our time parading fake Christianity. 

Genuine Christianity is experiential. Job says to God, "I have HEARD of thee by the HEARING of the ear: BUT NOW mine eye SEETH thee" (Jb.42:5). Real Christianity includes both hearing and seeing Christ. Real Christianity has nothing to do with hearsay. Secondhand knowledge or revelation is not good enough. Real faith in Christ has evidence. John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to find out if he was truly the long awaited Messiah that should come. In their presence Jesus worked some miracles, and then said to them, "Go and SHEW John AGAIN those things which ye do HEAR and SEE" (Mt.11:4). 

True Christianity is showable. It is provable. It has proofs. A believer in Christ is a proof-producer. John's disciples saw proofs to take back to him. They heard and saw. Christ makes things happen. Christ in our lives produces enough proofs of His identity and personality.

Christ doesn't hide. After His resurrection from the dead He appeared to His disciples and many others. In Act.1:3, we read, "To whom also he SHEWED HIMSELF ALIVE after his passion by MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS, being SEEN of them forty days…" For more than a month people saw Him in different forms. His post-resurrection appearances were real and concrete.

You cannot condemn the Christian Faith until you have tried it and found it wanting. The psalmist exclaims, "O taste and see that the LORD is good." Peter instructs us to desire the sincere milk of the word of God "if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1Pet.2:3). The psalmist again exclaims, "How sweet are thy words unto my TASTE! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Ps.119:103).

Let me give you some Scriptures that show what authentic Christianity is all about, and take notice of the highlighted words. Luke writes, "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had HEARD and SEEN, as it was told unto them" (Lk.2:20).

John the Baptist says, "And what he hath SEEN and HEARD, that he TESTIFIETH; and no man receiveth his testimony" (Jh.3:32). Peter takes us back to the Mount of Transfiguration experience, and says, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were EYEWITNESSES of his MAJESTY… And this VOICE which came from heaven we HEARD, when we were with him in the holy mount" (2Pet.1:16,18). Peter tells the Jewish Authority, "For we cannot but speak the things which we have SEEN and HEARD" (Act.4:20). Ananias tells Paul, "For thou shalt be his WITNESS unto all men of what thou hast SEEN and HEARD" (Act.22:15). James tells his audience, "Ye have HEARD of the patience of Job, and have SEEN the end of the Lord" (Jam.5:11). Paul tells his followers, "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and HEARD, and SEEN in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you" (Phil.4:9). 

John the beloved says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN with our eyes, which we have LOOKED UPON, and our HANDS have HANDLED, of the Word of life… That which we have SEEN and HEARD declare we unto you…" (1Jh.1:1,3). Christianity that is all ears and no eyes is insufficient. Today all we do is hear and hear and hear, but sadly, we see nothing. We leave church the same way we came - no fresh encounter of God and no change in effect. Did not those who heard Christ exclaim, "We have SEEN strange things to day"? (Lk.5:26)

It is time for you to pray and say, O God, use me to show the world that Christ is a reality, not a myth! Let them feel the impact of genuine Christianity through me. And for that to happen, let me encounter Your reality for myself firsthand. I desire and pray to hear Your voice and see Your face. As I read the Scriptures, anoint my ears and eyes anew to hear and see You. Make me an embodiment of genuine Christianity. Let my light shine brightly. Let me be faithful and fruitful. By lips, by life and by love let me bear witness for Christ. Lord, I am sick and tired of telling stories of the good old days of Biblical men and women; I want to be a living story of what Jesus still does in today's world.

Lord, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. You never change and You have not stopped working miracles and showing Yourself in the lives of those who truly believe in Your name.

Lord, I am willing and ready to go all the way with You! Only make me a living proof of Your presence and power today. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter