Denying Christ

Q: In the Bible, Jesus' disciple Peter denied Him three times. But I heard a preacher on the radio recently talking about how American Christians deny Christ. How could that be?

A: Christians in modern American culture probably look quite unlike Christians have ever looked in history. In some respects, it is popular to be a Christian. Everyone does it. Consequently we describe certain parts of the country like "the Bible belt." But actually we deny Christ not so much with our words more with our attitudes and behaviors. Perhaps we hope someone won't find out that we're Christians - or we'll conceal that fact to get a job, be popular, fit in, etc. Or we deny Christ when we decide not to speak up for what is right, are silent about our relationship with God, blend into the society around us (for any reason), or accept our culture's non-Christian (i.e., ungodly) values.

Christians are supposed to look different than the world around them. They're supposed to be like strangers in a foreign land. They're not supposed to fit in. In fact, they should look radically different than everyone else. And each day, they should become more and more like Christ Himself. When we don't ... we deny Christ.