Are You Ashamed To Be A Full-On Christian?

Last night I went with some friends to see the movie "I'm Not Ashamed." It is about the faith journey of Rachel Scott, one of the victims of the Columbine school shooting in 1999. She had a chance to renounce Christ and live, but she held true to her faith and the shooters killed her for it.

Over 20 million people have heard her story... her testimomy. She has made a huge and lasting impact on a generation. But that impacg follows a difficult path of struggling with her relatjonship with God. She was not always a strong Christian. There were times when she was hot and cold in her faith. She sort of had one foot in the world, and one foot in with Jesus.

During those times it was not even clear to her friends that she was a Christian. They would even say, "Oh... you are one of those Christians? I didn't know."

This exchange impacted me, and I wondered how many times my life has not backed up what I wanted my faith to be. Living a double life is hard work. We can't successfully be a Christian and a sinner. Eventually one lifestyle has to go. We hurt ourselves and our friends when we straddle the fence.

God doesn't save us to be ambiguous with our faith. He transforms us so we can be authentic with our friends. Authenticity is not about living a defeated life. It is about living a disciple life. Psalm 40 deals with the power of having a new true change for Christ...

"I waited patiently for the LORD
And He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
How happy is the man who has put his trust in the Lord and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies!"

So the question is, Is there a new song inside of you that clearly points to Jesus? Do people have to guess that you are a Christian? Could they guess it? Are you living a life that causes people to put their trust in Christ, or would they be surprised to find that that you've put you trust in Christ?