don't be a cowardly lion.

does who you are on the outside, match who you are on the inside?

my friend Hannah recently sent me a message telling me to check out a documentary that recently got released onto Netflix called "Beware of Christians". it is a film that was made by 4 college students who wanted to figure out how to live the faith that they professed. they all left for Europe hoping to rediscover the faith that had become so second nature to them here in the US.

it was an honest and real take on those simple ways we are called to live and we just don't.

one of the most gut wrenching lines from the movie was during one of their interviews with some European locals. they had asked them if they had any Christian friends, to which they replied, yes. but then they were asked if they could tell that their friends were Christians by the way they lived.to this they replied:

"no. they are just busy on Sundays."

in pondering how this fact plays out in my own life. i thought of the cowardly lion from the movie The Wizard of Oz.

he is meant to be the king of the jungle.

he, by his very nature, is meant to evoke fear in all who come before him.

he, himself, is thought fearless.

however, as we know from the movie, he is lacking the courage that so defines him. it is not the mane or the roar, but the courage that makes a lion a lion.

in the same way. it is not the name "Christian", it is not that we don't drink or do drugs or have sex that makes us a follower of Christ. it is the confident hope that we display in the Lord.

we do not simply say a prayer.

we choose - to be bold, courageous, last.

we choose to die daily to our fleshly desires of adoration, praise and power.

we understand that we can look the look, talk the talk and walk the walk.

but Christ seeping out of our every word and action tells a much better story than we ever could.