by Martin M. Davis

1 In a Sunday morning sermon many years ago, I heard the preacherask, If you were accused of being a Christian, would there beenough evidence to convict you? While many laughed nervouslyin response, I distinctly remember the feeling of guilt that over-whelmed me as I considered the unmistakable implications of his ques-tion: What are you doing to prove you are a Christian? MAY/JUNE 20097 IFYOUWEREACCUSEDOFBEING Martin M. Davisall and sundry that we are amongthe chosen. Though the evidencemay vary from group to group,surely there are some generalguidelines we can follow to provewe are Christians.

2 Perhaps we could prove we areChristians by our attendance atchurch. Enough gold stars for per-fect Sunday attendance would un-equivocally prove that we areChristians. But then, the naggingdoubt may arise that even perfectSunday attendance may not pro-vide sufficient proof to convict oneof being a Christian. Perhaps per-fect Sunday attendance supple-mented by regular mid-weekattendance would do the job. Butwho can say if regular church at-tendance is enough? Perhaps we should sing in thechoir, or if we lack good singingvoices, maybe we should volunteerfor nursery duty, or teach teenchurch or Sunday School.

3 Doubt-less, perfect attendance punctuatedwith a plethora of Sunday dutieswould provide plenty of evidencethat we are what if perfect attendanceand performing Sunday duties donot provide enough evidence toconvict us of being Christians?What else might we do to prove weare the real thing? Perhaps thereare things we should do off site, inour own homes even. Perhaps we should initiate amorning quiet time, employinghealthy doses of Oswald Chamberscoupled with Scripture. But then,how long should it be? Is fifteenminutes enough to prove we areChristians?

4 Or should it be thirty?Or even forty-five? But, then, whatabout my wife? She often leaveshome before 5:00 in order toget to school to finish grading pa-pers before her sixth-graders beginarriving soon after seven. I supposethat instead of getting up at 4:30,she could get up at 3:30 for morn-ing quiet time. Surely that wouldprove she is a Christian. Proving Our Faith by What WeDon t Do?After further thought, maybe itWorst of all, I absolutely detest-ed the thought of witnessing. I hated joining others in my Sun-day School class on Wednesdayevenings to go knocking on some-one s door unannounced to askthem if they knew Jesus or worse,why they hadn t been in SundaySchool lately.

5 After a few momentsof wallowing in guilt and shame, Iconcluded I was a washout as aChristian. No doubt I needed tosay the sinner s prayer and be re-baptized, because there was littledanger that some wild-eyed secu-larist would accuse me of being aChristian! Proving Our Christianity?As I think back on that fateful Sun-day and the preacher s damningquestion, I wonder what the evi-dence might be that would convictone of being a Christian. Obvious-ly, there must be something we aresupposed to do that will prove toAfter a few moments of wallowing inguilt and shame, I concluded I was awashout as a are youdoing to proveyou are a Christian?

6 Following the surge of guilt, I was engulfed in shame as I began to contemplate theappalling lack of evidence to convict me of being a Christian. I didn t sing in thechoir or teach Sunday School. I hadn t volunteered to go on a mission trip. I servedon no committees. I refused to go to the men s fellowship breakfast because I was notinterested in talking about deer hunting or football at 7:30 on Saturday morning. 8 THE PLAIN TRUTH would be much easier to prove weare Christians by what we don tdo. Maybe we should give up beer,especially those cold frosty onesthey serve along with corn dogsduring hot summer ball games.

7 Ormaybe we could promise the pas-tor we would never ven-ture inside a casino,even if only to stickfive-dollars-worth ofquarters into a slot ma-chine before headingfor the buffet. Ormaybe we could giveup R-rated better, we couldgo the extra mile andgive up movies ratedPG-13, as well. Surelythat would provideenough evidence toconvict us of beingChristians. Or maybe we shouldfast one day a week or maybe two. Evenbetter, like the desertmonks of old, we couldlive inside hollowtrees, flagellate our-selves, wear hair shirtsand never bathe inorder to show our dis-dain for the flesh, andthereby provide ampleevidence to convict usof being doubt we begin to realizethat the preacher s question ismore complicated than it mayhave first appeared.

8 Obviously,providing enough evidence toprove we are Christians can getconvoluted in a hurry! A Valid Question?Today, in fact, I strongly contestthe validity of the question. I thinkthat, intended or not, the questionis bound to shame its hearers, par-ticularly those who don t teachSunday School, sing in the choir orserve on committees. Moreover, Inow realize that the question hidesan implicit legalismthat suggestsour Christianity is measured by evidence required toprove one is a Christian may benothing more than adherence to aprescribed set of rules, much like arecipe for Christian living.

9 We may fail to see, however, thateven meticulous adherence to anexternal code of conduct is noguarantee that a person is a Christ-ian. Remember the Pharisees of Je-sus day? They were the greatestrule-keepers in history. In fact,Jesus never disputed their ability toadhere to external codes of con-duct. Nevertheless, he comparedthem to white washed tombs,which look beautiful on the out-side but on the inside are full ofdead men s bones and everythingunclean (Matthew 23:27). Not apretty picture! Obviously, consider-ing Jesus harsh words about thePharisees, we may conclude thatthere must be more to being aChristian than exter-nal behavior can Not Deeds, WhatAbout Creeds?

10 Since externals can-not provide trust-worthy evidence toconvict us of beingChristians, perhapswe should look forinternal evidence ofour faith. Maybe aChristian is some-one who believes acertain set of theo-logical propositions. But whose theo-logical propositionsmust we believe toprove we are Chris-tians? If we believe inthe perseverance ofthe saints ( oncesaved always saved )does that mean thatthose who believewe can fall fromgrace are not Chris-tians? Where exactly do we drawthe line between orthodoxy andheresy?