iPods Don't Make Musicians

[Inspired by Romans 2:13]
We are not musicians just because we listen to music on our iPods. It would be a ridiculous notion to think otherwise. Imagine someone auditioning for an opening in a band or orchestra of some sort:

"So ... tell us about yourself."

"Well, I'm a musician. I've been playing for years. I love music more than anything and I really want to be a part of this."

"That's great. So what is it that you play exactly?"

"The iPod."

[insert cricket sound here]


As asinine as that scenario is, there is an equally absurd one that plays itself out every weekend. All over this country every Sunday people spruce up their wardrobe, their behavior, and their language for about 2 hours and head to church. They hear music and maybe even sing; they hear preaching and maybe even take notes. Then they head home to enjoy the pot roast that has been slow cooking in a crock pot since dawn. This, especially in the south, motivates people to answer in the affirmative to the question, "Are you a Christian?" Yet their actions the other 166 hours of the week offer no evidence to support such a declaration.

In Romans 2:13 the Apostle Paul makes it clear ...

Just as you are not a musician because you listen to an iPod ...
neither are you a Christian because you have heard the law.

That's not what makes us right with God. Remember that the next time you go to church just to check that box off your to do list. And this isn't a new problem. It was addressed in the Old Testament too when the prophet Samuel wrote, "obedience is better than sacrifice" (I Samuel 15:22). It's not about going through some obligatory motions and tipping your hat at God. That was never His intent. There is an expectation of action, of change, of becoming more like Christ.

So, are you living the sermons you hear being preached? Are you becoming more like the person God created you to be?

Am I?

Paul also wrote, "Faith without works is dead." I believe I heard that in a sermon once too.


{Image from Apple.com}