A new birth encounter with Jesus takes only a moment, but the process of becoming more like him takes a lifetime. Regular adjustment and realignment is part of the journey.

3 min read

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2, NLT

At the front door of a restaurant was a chalkboard with a one-word message: “Welcome!”

Next to the message someone had sketched a simple emoji face.

But there was a slight problem.

The face didn’t match the message. It was a frowny face, with the edges of the mouth pointing down. If you looked closely, you could barely make out that the original face was smiling, but someone had changed it. They had jokingly erased the smile and made it a frown instead.

Now there was a contradiction in the message. The word on the sign said Welcome! but the face on the sign said, Go away.

What’s On Your Sign?

Sometimes the same thing happens in the Christian life. That is, sometimes our message and our manner do not align. Sometimes our words say one thing, but our lives say something completely different.

The reason this is a problem is because as Christians we are called to be living billboards, meaning our lives are to bear witness to the idea that there is a good God who is worth getting to know.

The Bible says we are Christ’s representatives. Wherever we go, we are ambassadors of the King.

And as Paul explains in Romans 1, this is something we should lean into – not shy away from:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. -Romans 1:16

But let’s face it, like the sign at the restaurant, we also have contradictions. Sometimes we send mixed signals. On one hand, we identify as followers of Jesus but on the other hand, there are ways in which we bear very little resemblance to him.

Even on our best days, all followers of Christ still fall short. And on our worst days, well, there are contradictions all over the place.

And it’s confusing to people. For some, it is more than confusing. For some, the contradictions are a dealbreaker. Ask a non-Christian about their biggest objection to Christianity and odds are they will say something like, “Too many hypocrites.”

True, this common criticism may just be an easy excuse to dismiss the whole idea of God. Yet, there are some faith-curious folks who find the mixed signals they get from Christians genuinely puzzling.

What to do?

Search Me, Know Me, Show Me

A good starting point is to ask God to show us our contradictions…those parts of our lives that don’t represent Jesus well. This might sound a little intimidating, but it need not be. If there is anyone you can trust with a “How do I look?” it is God. He’ll shoot straight with you, but he will be kind about it.

In Psalm 139:23-24, this is exactly what David did. He said,

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life

This is where it begins. Opening ourselves up to God and inviting him to show us our contradictions is the first step toward message/manner alignment.

Rather than just settling in and excusing ourselves with an “I am what I am” and “It is what it is,” with God’s help, we can change. We must.

And as we persevere in this noble calling, little by little, day by day, what used to be contradictions in us will give way to transformation, offering proof to all who observe that Jesus is real and the Gospel is true.

In the meantime, the good thing is that there is no contradiction whatsoever in Jesus. His followers have their hypocritical moments, but not him. He was and is without sin. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is everything he ever claimed to be.

In Christ, there is no disconnect between message and manner. Everything about him clearly and convincingly says, Welcome.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.