Whatcha hidin' there?

A silly kids game we used to play was "Guess What?"  One of us would have some object in our hands that we kept concealed and the others tried to guess what it was.  I think it may have been a game invented by our parents simply to keep us occupied.

A silly game (sad to say) that some Christians play is a version of "Guess What".  That version of "Guess What" goes like  this:

• at church or with known christian friends they are "quite" christian in what they say and how they act
• at work or play with everyday people who hold a different worldview they may not be quite so "christian" in what they say and do.
• at times of great stress (traffic is a good example) or anger....well, you see where this is going.

What those who play this game of "Guess What" lack is commitment.  Perhaps they are just pretenders, or maybe  (hopefully) just going through the growing pains (stages) of being early Christians. Sadly, however, there are folks out there who have hung the christian tag on themselves as a means of feeling as if they are doing the "right thing", or maybe they really are on the fence.  They are like chameleons.

I remember folks in my life who were truly committed Christians.  They weren't bible thumpers or in-your-face Jesus freaks.  They had simply accepted the principles of christian living as their guide and thus they didn't "go through the motions"....they lived their faith publicly.  In those early days I remember saying to myself "I hope I can be that way" because they were just real people who acknowledged their brokenness, but lived in such a way that there was no doubt that they were God fearing people who simply kept on trying.

In the darker times of my life when I was struggling with which path to take, I often made the grievous mistake of purposely not acknowledging a belief in God....because I was embarrassed by what my friends would say.  I am not proud of that chapter in my life.  I wasn't playing "Guess What."  I was hiding what I believed deep inside.  Hiding it !  Fortunately, that chapter in my life is past.  I no longer have a problem believing and living as a christian man.  I really don't want anyone guessing about me....because I never know when, just like those folks in my early life, I too might be an example to someone.



Where do you stand in this spectrum?  Do you hold it close to your chest, or wear it on your sleeve?