Humphrey Bogart was an American film and stage actor. His performances in American films made him a cultural icon during his career. The story is that he was once taken to watch a young comedian who had a reputation for doing a very good Bogart imitation. Bogart sat in the audience and was asked afterwards what he thought of the imitation. His blunt reply was, "One of us stinks." I don’t want to be uncouth, but a perpetual problem in Christianity is precisely this – when it comes to imitating Jesus Christ, some Christians stink. The problem is not a new one. Jesus addressed it with His own blunt words in what we know as Matthew 23 in our Bibles. There, He pronounced "woe upon woe" on the scribes and Pharisees of His day, repeatedly calling them "hypocrites" (that is, religious actors – vs 13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). Further, He labeled them as "blind guides" (vs 16) – and if that isn’t direct enough, "fools and blind" (vs 17, 19)! And then – talk about blunt preaching, in verse 33, the Lord flung these jagged, jarring, fearless words at these religious but not righteous leaders – "Serpents (the Greek word means ‘snake’ and so the New International Version renders it, ‘You snakes!’), brood of vipers! How shall you escape the condemnation of hell?" Wow! Talk about pulling no punches! In passing, when was the last time you heard hell even mentioned in a sermon? This is Jesus Christ talking – not a bent-out-of-shape-ultra-conservative, Bible-banging, pew-pounding, red-in-the-face, fundamentalist preacher with some agenda to promote or axe to grind. How long would Jesus last in our contemporary age when many Christians and churches seem more concerned about not offending culture than about not offending God? Read Matthew 23 if you want a short course on why many first century Jewish leaders hated Jesus, and why they finally managed to have Him nailed to a cross. He dared call them out on their hypocritical, merely outward-focused approach to religion that allowed them to talk the talk with no concern to walk the walk. As Jesus began to verbally assault these "blind fools" and "hypocrites," He directed His followers in Matthew 23:2-3: "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not." Twenty years ago in a bulletin article entitled, "What If Preachers Preached What You Practice?", my friend and faithful gospel preacher David Sain wrote about what he described as a "practice gap" in the church – "Our actions are not in harmony with our words. Many of us do not practice what we preach. And the world sees the difference."
How about it? Is there a "gap" between what you preach and what you practice? I am challenged every time I read the apostle Paul’s words to Christians at ancient Corinth in 1 Corinthians 11:1 – "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." The King James Version says, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." The apostle was not being presumptuous or claiming (perish the thought!) equality with Jesus! He knew he was a sinner saved by grace, and in 1 Timothy 1:15 called "the chief of sinners." But he loved Jesus Christ ferociously. He practiced a costly commitment to Jesus. He sought to close the gap between talk and walk, between profession and practice. In short, he sought to imitate and follow Christ in such a way that if others imitated him, they would go to heaven. Get real now – are you honestly seeking to imitate Christ, or do you stink at being a Christian? Are you closing the gap between words and actions? Just asking
by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
