If I’m going to speak on credibility, I have to start with an apology. I am very sorry that I have not been posting as regularly as I intended. I am going to go back and fill in posts for all those days. This is not an attempt to be dishonest and make people think I posted every day when I didn’t, but rather a way to keep to my commitment of a daily post. I will try to do better. Being dependable is a big part of being credible.
You may want to kick back against my title today. Of course you can point to a million other things each of us has, salvation in Christ being foremost, but when it comes to everything we do as believers, credibility is huge and when it comes to spreading a message, the chief goal and calling of followers of Christ, credibility is of the utmost importance. What good are you if people don’t believe you?
Consider the news media. I’ve come to the point where I rarely watch the news anymore. No I’m not trying to live an uninformed life, nor am I becoming some kind of separatist. I just have found them to be dishonest too many times. Spinning a story to support your point of view is not the same as truth and this is what I see too much of the time. Spin me and you lose your credibility. Fox News calls themselves fair and balanced. They’d be so much more credible if they said we look at the world from a conservative point of view. Similarly all the rest of the networks act as if they do not have a liberal bias and when they do that, poof, there goes their credibility. I don’t mind your spin, I just want you to admit there is one. We all have points of view and opinions, maybe you’re better off admitting your bias than trying to hide it.
But there is one area where credibility is extremely huge and that is in communicating the Gospel. Lose your credibility here and you damage the cause of Christ. So let me put mine out there. I am on team Jesus. I try my best to live my life following His example and His Word. That being said I am a flawed human being who fails many times. To act as if I have this all figured out is to lose all credibility. My faith colors my world view. I believe the teachings of The Holy Bible. I believe salvation comes through Christ. To say I believe anything else is to lose my credibility. Does this make me hateful? No! As a matter of fact, I follow a God who tells me to love my neighbor, my friends, my family, even those who would consider themselves to be my enemies, and I try, imperfectly to live this out as well. Part of that love is to share the truth as I believe it. Disagree with me. It’s okay, I love you. Disagreement is not intolerance, it’s disagreement.
Credibility is huge. As a Christian, this means I have to live what I believe and apologize when I fall short. How do you stay credible? We’re tasked with communicating His message so this really, really matters.
AMOKArts 