Christian; defined by what you do, or don’t do?

Posted on 21 February 2010 by Josh Cordell

How do you define your Christian life? What is your “walk” or your “testimony” all about? At times, my Christianity has been defined by what I don’t do. The whole, “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t cuss” basically, I don’t do non-Christian things. But is that akin to being dead? Sure, rendering the old man dead and no longer living for sin is a good thing… but doesn’t that accomplish just as much as a dead person? What are the “Do(s)” of my Christian life? What do I do that makes me distinctly Christian? Do I love more than a non-Christian? Am I humbler than a non-Christian? Do I seek after justice more than a non-Christian? Am I lead by the Holy Spirt to DO and not just to DON’T?

Doing can be scary. Doing can set yourself up for scrutiny. Don’ting (that’s a word I just coined) is safe. When you don’t no one can call you out and say that what you are Don’ting is wrong. But Doing, that’s way more dangerous. Doing can be questioned. You can get called out because the style in which you are Doing is isn’t correct, or the people you are Doing with aren’t correct, or a whole host of other dangers of Doing.

A good example would be Rick Warren. The guys does a lot. Do I have issues with some of the stuff he does, absolutely! If he were busy Don’ting would he be criticized? Probably not, Don’ting is safe. People are very critical of Warren and he’s a Doer. Warren himself said that he’d like his tombstone to say, “At least he tried.” What I’m saying here isn’t an endorsement nor is it a condemnation of Warren. I’m just using him as an example of someone who is Doing and is highly scrutinized because of it.

I’M ASKING A LOT OF QUESTIONS BECAUSE I WANT ANSWERS FOR MYSELF. Am I a doer or a don’ter? I think I need to be a little of both. Only being one can be dangerous. Only being a don’ter is dangerous because you miss out on this amazing adventure that God has for us and you don’t get to be his hands. Only being a doer is dangerous because you can become a pragmatic results-oriented Christians. Don’t get me wrong, results are important, but not if you have to compromise the convictions of the Holy Spirit or go against the Word and Commandments of the Creator.

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3 Comments For This Post

  1. shane simonsen Says:

    angela and i really like what you wrote here. it makes me think of peter walking on the water. good stuff man. may we always “do” when it comes to seeking God’s Truth and living it out!

  2. Mike Says:

    I think it’s both do and don’t do. If your reading God’s Word(doing) then in fact your not doing(what the Bible commands us not to do). By not doing something non-christian, as a christian is actually doing something (obeying God).

    As I see it, a Christian is always a doer and don’ting is a result of doing.

    I see Rick Warren being scrutinized not because he is just doing, but because he is not doing also.

  3. Josh Cordell Says:

    well said Mike. that is very clearly put!

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