Time to Draw the Line

“Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, ‘She is my sister.’ So king Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.

But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, ‘You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!’

But Abimelech has not slept with her yet, so he said, ‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother’. I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.’

In the dream God responded, ‘Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from inning against me, and why I did not let you touch her.” [Gen. 20: 2-6 (NLT)]

Why do mishaps like these happen with so many Christians? Why does so many of us let those who are blind to God continue to walk in the dark while we stay silent in order to protect ourselves? Don’t we realize that WE are the first impression of Jesus?

It seems that the majority of today’s Christians are either too aggressive, in which the only thing they’ll ever say to a non-believer is “you crossed the line”. Too passive, in which they’ll just smile and chat and act like there is no line to cross. Or simply passive-aggressive, in which they’ll first act like there is no line, then wait to say, “You crossed it”.

Abraham was being passive in this passive in this passage. He went through town saying, “She is my sister”, instead of,“she is my wife”. Taking a man’s unmarried sister is not a sin, but a natural occurrence. Taking a man’s wife however, most certainly is a sin.

Passive Christians do this all the time; they disguise sin in order to protect their reputations. When they don’t flat out say it’s not a sin (by using terms like “human nature” and “God made us this way”), they shrug it off with terms like “frowned upon” and “a good suggestion”. I call this the “it’s ok” approach; it’s simply refusing to call a sin a sin.

Now Abraham had a good reputation, and he was known as a man of God. So why wouldn’t Abimelech believe a man of God when he calls a woman his sister? Abimelech did not have the knowledge of God like Abraham did. You can always trust in the Lord, shouldn’t you also be able to trust in HIS SERVANTS?

Christians, IT IS A SIN to bear false witness, it is a sin to lie. But how much greater of a sin is it when we lie about God’s word in order to protect our reputations? How much greater of a sin is it when we cause someone to stumble further because they took our word for it? Rather heavy if you ask me.

Practically ever non-believer MEETS A CHRISTIAN before they meet Christ. So will they get a glimpse of THE TRUE JESUS when they see us? Let’s pray so. You see, Jesus DID NOT come down to this earth with any intention of having a good reputation. He wanted people to know THE TRUTH.

Christians, we believe in a Savior that we can always trust, and we are the hands and feet of that Savior. So how should anyone find that ever trustworthy Savoir when his people constantly steer them wrong? It’s time BE ASSERTIVE, Christians; let’s draw the line.

May the Lord’s guidance be with you all,