First off, let me say that I'm a huge Petra fan. Ever since I went to a puppet convention in probably 89 or 90 and purchased their On Fire album, I have been hooked. Not only do they sound great, but their songs have a good message too. All their albums have lyrics, and all the lyrics are tied to scripture. And, to top it off, these guys have been around forever (they started in the 70s as a Jesus Band). I'm bummed since they decided to move on, but that is all up to God, isn't it? Anyway, I've gotten off track. I said all that to set up that I was listening to their song Seen and Not Heard today at work when it hit me that this is not only what the world wants from us as Christians…it is what we are supposed to do. Take a look at these lyrics:
Too many black sheep in the family
Too many stones from a house of glass
They've heard the story, they've heard the lines
But talk is too cheap to change their minds
They want to see some vital signs
The song goes on:
Let your light so shine in all you do
With an answer near when they come to you
Don't let your mouth start talkin'
Until your feet start walkin'
If there is one thing I'm tired of, it is telling someone I'm a Christian then having to explain what I mean by that. I mean, come on, why call youself a Christian if you only go to church on Sunday? What's going to happen when someone sticks a gun in your face and asks if you are one of those Christian people? Being a Christian is more than going to church once a week (for that matter, it is more than being really "good" and going three times a week). Being a Christian is about being a follower of Christ–the Bible actually calls us Ambasadors for Christ.
Why does the world seem to respond to some people better than others? I think the lyrics of the song do a good job pointing this out:
They can see through the false pretense
They want to see some evidence
The world knows a Christian when they see one. Christians, stand up and be counted…the rest need to have some alone time with God and get everything worked out.
By the way, if you would like to listen to the song, I've uploaded an mp3 of Seen and Not Heard from Petra's Beyond Belief album. I believe this is fair use under the copyright laws of the US (I can use copyrighted material to comment on).