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WALKING THE WALK

 After Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,  for he taught as one who had real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.  – Matthew 7:28-29 (NLT)

      At the conclusion of one of the most hard-hitting, conviction-bringing, lay-it-on-the-line sermons ever preached (The Sermon on the Mount – Matt. 5-7), the audience cannot contain themselves and give Jesus a standing ovation! How can that possibly happen? Jesus had dared to speak of the unspeakable: adultery, money, hypocrisy and other topics that make us uncomfortable. Not only did He get away with it, the crowd loved it and wanted more.

      What was the secret? Jesus not only talked the talk, He walked the walk. The crowd could look at Jesus’ life and see without a doubt that He was living out the message that He was bringing to them. This is the key to Christian communication. Our audience will pay as much, if not more, attention to how we live as they do to what we have to say. This is cause for self-examination. Are people really listening to me when I talk about Christ and the Christian life? If not, is there something I need to change to make my walk match my talk?  This is God calling us to authenticity.