Living a Life Worthy of the Gospel

There is a reoccurring theme in my studies over the past couple of days that I feel like I need to share. I don't think that this is a message simply for me, but I feel like it is a message for all who claim to follow Christ...

This morning in Sunday School we were studying Ephesians 4, where Paul opens by imploring the church to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." I found this quite ironic since just a day ago I was listening to a sermon on Philippians 1:27 which talks of walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel. What does this mean to walk in a worthy manner? How does this apply to our lives?

This idea of being worthy is illustrated by one of those old justice scales. To live in a way worthy of the Gospel means that if you were to put the Gospel, or God's word, on one side of the scale and our lives on the other side, they would balance out. But how many of us can actually say this about our life? How many of us truly walk in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel?

I came across an article that was written by an anonymous Christian author in Germany, who witnessed the Holocaust. He writes:

"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars! Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene."

Now looking back at that story, I find it easy to judge. It is easy to criticize that church for not stepping in and for simply just singing louder. But could the same not be said of us? Look at all the pain in the world; look at all the poverty. Just look at the events in the Middle East over the past week and you can see how desperate the world is for a Savior. They are desperate for someone to intervene. But what are we doing about it?

I don't want to be in a situation years from now where I am writing an article about how I didn't step in to help someone or how my church just looked the other way. And so with that said, I am asking us now to take a stand and start being that light to the world that we are commanded to be (Matthew 5:14).

But what will be our response? Are we going to step in and actually make an impact on the world or are we just going to sing louder? Are we just going to continue on with the mindset that the church was made for us or are we going to understand that the church was made for the world?

I admit that there are many areas of my life that are worthy of the Gospel, but there is so much more that is unworthy. It is my goal to make my life match up with Scripture. I want that scale to balance. I know that it is a tough task but I want to challenge you to join me in this mission of walking in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel. Are you with me?


I would love to get some comments about how God is challenging you to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. You can either email them to me at r9tmac@gmail.com, or you can simply just reply to this post for all to see. Let's join in praying for one another as well.