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You a re simply amazed at mile
after mile of beau ti fu l streets graced
with large, fine, costly homes. Fi–
nally you come to a stylish. modern
ho use with a big, beauti ful bay win–
dow faci ng the street. You can't
hel p but peer through it into th e
large famil y li ving room. Severa !
empty cocktail glasses are over on
th e coffee table. A piano is ovcr in
one corner. Dad is playing a famil–
ia r tune. and Mom is leani ng over
his s hou lder. The next-door neigh–
bo rs are ga thered a round the piano,
and the kids a re p laying a round a
beautiful green tree care fully laced
wit h hand-made popcorn strings.
You see the inviting glow of tiny
tree lights wi th their many- hued col–
ors . Ribbons and wrapping paper
a re sca ttered here and there a bou t a
room filled with a ll sorts of modern
gifts and toys. And over the door is
the obligatory mistletoe.
l t's a lovely , white Cbristmas Eve
comple te with two inches of snow
ou tside on the g rass.
Bw
is it Chris–
tian?
ls Christmas C hri stian?' Did
Christ ce lebra re Christmas? Did the
original apostles? lf you're inter–
es ted in th is subj ect, write for oy r
free bookle t a bout Christmas.
" See Your Easter Bonnet With All
Your Frills Upon lt"
lrv ing Berlin's "Eas te r Parade" is
one of the mos t beautiful me lodies
ever written. You can' t help but be–
gin to hum it. But what a bout a l!
that is associa ted with this love ly
tune? What about lent, as hes, rab–
bits, colo red eggs, white shoes, and
Maundy Thu rsday? Do a ll these
th ings constitute the proper pa ra –
phernalia for the observance of the
resurrection of Jesus C hrist? Is Eas–
ter observance the mark of a true
C hristian? What about s unrise ser–
vices?
By now it's ea rly spring, and you
are still di ligen tly sea rching - care–
full y consideri ng and s iftin g through
all of the evidence. You find your–
se lf in a huge, outdoor bowl some–
where in Southern Californ ia. Your
br igh t red eyes would tell anyone
when you got up. You peer sleepily
a t the gray faint hint of the fal se
dawn in the East. You 're on the
ou ter fr inges of a vast throng of per–
haps e ight thousand people. On the
stage in the far distance is a man
The
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1976
who is obviously religious. He's a ll
decked out in garments specially de–
signed for a religious ce remony.
lt's just beginning to dawn , and
"everybody is in the ir favorite reli–
gious posture. Many are knee ling
and c lasping their ba nds in s ilent
praye r. You a re vis ibly irnpressed.
but you still have to ask you rself:
Is
lhis Chrislian!
You remember read–
ing something a bout a sim ilar occa-·
sion in the eighth chap te r of Ezekiel.
And you begin to wo nder.
..
Stíll Searching
You take time out for a p la ne flight
back eas t. You wa tch the passengers
fo r lack of anything be tter todo. l t's
after takeoff, and the " No Smoking' '
sign has gone out. The fellow sea ted
nex t to you qu ickly whips out a
we ll -marked Bible, adj usts his read–
ing glasses, and begins lo read studi–
ously, a ll the while making obvious
red-a nd-blue ma rks with a flourish.
Yo u ask yourself if he is the rare
person you a r e looking for; or is he
simply a religious fanatic?
Some "true believers" are identi–
fi ed by shaved heads and long
robes, wh ile o thers are singled out
by huge beards, fla t-brimmed hats,
sq uare-toed shoes, a nd a rejection of
twentie th-century life.
Bu t are a ll th ese postures of righ–
teousness the ma rk of a true Chris–
ti an? There must be some reliable
se t of cred entia ls.
" Ve Shall Know Them by
Their Fruits"
Jesus expla in ed to his discip les how
to recognize the di fference between
a false prophe t a nd a true one a nd
by extension how to recognize any–
one who represents God. He de–
cla red:
" Ye sha/1 know them by their
fru ils.
Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so
every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit ; but a corrup t tree bringeth
forth ev il fruit . . . .
Wherefore by
their fruits ye sha/1 know lhem"
(Ma tt. 7: 16- 17, 20).
What kind o f fr uits are we talking
about? Paul explains that the fruits
of the holy spir it are " !ove, joy,
peace. longsuffering [pa tience]. gen–
tl eness. good ness. faith, meekness.
temperance [self-control] ..." (Gal.
5:22-23). Th ese are
the fruits
a true
Christian shou ld possess.
Jesus sa id: "1 am the vi ne, ye are
the branches. He that ab ideth in me,
a nd l in him.. tbe same
bringethfo!·th
much fruit;
for without me you can
do nothing" (John 15 :5).
1t
is only
through Ch rist that a Christian can
produce th e s piritual frui t th at
marks him as a true follower of his.
But t here is mu ch more to the sto ry .
Christianity, a Way of Life
Believe it o r not. Christianity is a
fu/1-time job.
l t's a profession, not
j ust a "belie f. ' ' l t's what you
do
all
the time. not what you do now a nd
then. or when t he mood st rikes you.
o r when the social pressures build to
the point of unbear able degree. thus
sending you off "to church" once or
twice ayear , orto "confession" for a
fresh shot of righteousness to re–
p lace the faded , dulled coat ing
you're presently wearing.
lsn't it st range that millions of
professing "Christians' ' do no t seem
to know tha t Christia nity is a way of
life! lt's a way of thínking, act ing,
ta lking, working. playing, loving - a
way of doing!
The Sermon on the Mount
Christ's teachi ngs conce rni ng !ove of
enemies. turni ng the other cheek,
and t he precepts of the ' 'Go lden
Rule" are so well known tha t they
seem a cornmonplace, almost a cas–
ua lly repeated part of modern-day
"Christianity."
Millions of professing Christians
hea r sermons p reached from the fa–
mous " Bea titudes" found in the
fifth cha pter o f Matthew. They are
inspired, encouraged , a nd perhaps a
lit tle chagrined now and then as
they listen to beautifully delivered,
carefully phrased, sanct imon iously
p ronounced disserta tions abou t the
" poor in spirit ," o r "tbe me rciful" or
the "pure in heart."
Of course. all those concepts,
when rightly understood, are a l! a b–
solu te ly requ ired of every tr ue
Chris tian. But Jesus Christ
knew
in
advance that his teachings would be
watered down, spiritua lized away.
and tramp led underfoot in a maze
of confusion a nd conflicting be liefs.
He knew and fo rewarned that men
wou ld profess his name - would
c/aim
to be "Christia n" - but wou ld
adamantly
refuse lo obey
what he
sa id.
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