I’ve been thinking about this for a while—there’ve been several occasions recently that have trigged my thoughts about this topic (behavior modification), Christianity, and evangelism.

Let me start with a quote I read recently, so you will have an idea where I’m going with this. …so, you can either keep reading or stop because you think I’m spouting heresy.

“Christians have nothing to be smug about; we are not righteous people trying to correct the unrighteous. As one preacher said, ‘Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread’ The chief difference between the believer and the unbeliever is forgiveness.” –R.C. Sproul

In a situation that I am familiar with, a woman (at work) was let go from her job because she addressed (negatively) a young boy about his desire to wear a dress for a Halloween costume without consulting the mother, who was close by.

Why would someone do that? A need to evangelize behavior? I’ve been there!

As Christians, we believe the scriptures about gender: “But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and the two will become one flesh…” (Mark 10:6-8) Two genders, marriage between a man and a woman. Yet, if someone does not have a relationship with Jesus, trying to convince them of truth found in the scriptures is pointless. Even if someone were to go about changing their behavior, what would be the point if they don’t have a relationship with Jesus?

I, of course, admit a sense of feeling that I need to get myself cleaned up for God. The wearing of my best clothes for church (a dress), the rather stern reverence (ok, that one left a long time ago), and the careful adherence to making myself look “spiritual”. (However, a lot of that “spiritual” business left me when I got divorced and I was faced with my own brokenness.)

But there is a bit of that “saved by grace through works” still in me and I want it gone!

For my sake.

For the sake of my children and grandchildren.

For the sake of everyone I encounter!

Our culture is broken, seriously broken, and it is natural to want to fix it, to fix people so that they won’t look or act so contrary or broken. It is even growing exponentially antagonistic towards Christians. Yet, I sometimes wonder if I want people to “get saved” so that I can live a more comfortable, convenient life, or whether I long for others to experience the saving grace of Jesus.

My early church experience (from my perspective) was based on the Mosaic law, a lot of do’s and don’ts, with a little bit of Jesus thrown in to make it legitimate—it focused on behavior and appearance. Christians are supposed to look and act according to a set standard of looking and acting—which sounds logical or religious according to human opinion—however, that’s not what God looks at. (“…for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7)

Rather, change comes from the inside because the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us.

Here are some biblical Christian identifiers:

“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:14)

“…put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24)

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”  (Colossians 3:12-14)

If we aren’t changed on the inside, it doesn’t matter how nicely we’re dressed or what we look like on the outside!

And this is the important part: When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He makes the changes. This takes our faith to a whole new level!

We’re familiar with these verses: “…but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

…and, “For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Roman 5:1)

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

The problem starts when we exact from ourselves or others a certain “standard of holiness” that is based our expectations of what holiness looks like and paying no mind to the internal turmoil of a soul.

It is our faith that makes us righteous, not our good works or appearance.

And our faith is, that the God who saves us, really saves us from the inside out: “For it is God who is working you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)

I have had the emphasis put on the verse before this one to the point that Philippians 2:13 became a mumbled side note. However, the emphasis is on Gods work, not ours. The verse that leads up to this one is: “Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” (2:12)

The point is, we work out what God works in us. If we are changing our outward appearance or actions according to someone else’s opinion (no matter how lofty an opinion it is!) we are not working out God’s inside job.

“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:4-5)

And I come back to faith. There is nothing we can do to purchase our salvation—we couldn’t but Jesus did. And by faith, He will make the necessary changes in our lives. Hallelujah!!