Identifying the Believers

       Many people like to pretend in life.  I remember that as a youngster, I would pretend to be many different people from the Lone Ranger, to Sky King and even one of the little rascals which is where I jumped off of the garage with an umbrella.  I could take my arms out of my jacket and make it like a cape and fly through corn fields.  After a few years of pretending, life would settle in and you find that you are not pretending anymore.  Pretending however, doesn't always stop.  For many, it continues only it is not funny anymore.    John 17:21 says, " That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."   
      There are a large number of people who pretend today and what they are pretending to be is a Christian.  It is easy to do.  All you have to do to start pretending you are a Christian is to learn the vocabulary and start using words like, "saved, justified, washed in the blood, Lamb of God and rapture" and people will think you are a Christian.  You can even take communion in church but the truth is not there in your own life.  We can take it a step further and purchase a gold cross to wear around our neck and a bumper sticker that says "Honk if you love Jesus."  You can get a gold edged Bible and carry it around with you, but the truth is still not there.  A small book was written a number of years ago titled, "The Mark of the Christian."  In the book, the author set out to prove that it isn't the outside of the person that declares whether they are a Christian or not, but what is going on in the inside.  What would be the identifying mark of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?  The above verse tells us when Jesus was praying this prayer.  There was to be a relationship between believers that would be so strong that it set the believer apart from the rest of the world.  That relationship would have the characteristics of the relationship between the Father and the Son.  Christ went on to say, "They all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee."  The reason for this relationship was that the world may know the the Father had sent the Son.  So, you see, there is no mention of an outward artifact to declare to others that you are a Christian but solely depends upon your relationship with other believers.   You can possess all of the outside trappings of a Christian and still be a pretender, because you basically can't get along with people, especially other believers.  Praise God today for Who He is!