Marionette Christians

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the Truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.  Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 14-15.
Some people appear to act as if they are marionettes like Pinocchio and others act like real people.  The ones who act like marionettes, similar to Pinocchio, seem to blame everyone else and circumstances for all the things that happen in their lives.  They act as if they are powerless puppets and others are pulling all their marionette strings, controlling their lives.
The ones who seem to be real people realize that they make choices in their lives that impact the things that happen to them.  If things don’t turn out the way they want, they look at the choices they are making and make changes that ultimately turn their lives around.
I think that God wants us, as Christians, to be real people.  Ones who can change our choices if we find our lives aren’t going in the direction that would glorify God.  He doesn’t want us to be Marionette Christians like Pinocchio, being led astray by those who promise the fun and excitement of the worldly life.  He doesn’t want us to feel like we have no control over our choices and are powerless to change our lives.

If you have spent your life feeling powerless like Pinocchio, God is here to cut the strings that bind you and lead you astray.  He can make you the real Christian you want to be.  You can turn to Him to help you make the necessary changes…no strings attached!  (I couldn’t resist adding that!)
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Clockwork Christians

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)  And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 7-13.

This makes me think about a watch with its back taken off.  There are all kinds of mechanisms and gears in a watch.  Each gear and mechanism looks a little different from each other and does something a little different, but all the gears and mechanisms of the watch work together with one ultimate goal.
I think Clockwork Christians are like the gears and mechanisms of the watch.  We all have different gifts and abilities, but should all have the one unifying and ultimate goal of being the examples God wants us to be.  We might all do this in different ways.  Some might go door to door sharing their love for Jesus, while someone else does this by asking a friend to go to church with them.  Some accomplish this by giving their money, their time or their talents to do God’s work.  Still others do God’s work through being a good example of how Christ works in their life.
Hopefully all, regardless of their gifts, take the time to pray for those who don’t know Christ in their lives, since they all have the same ultimate and unifying goal.
Here is a related passage:
*As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God, if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever.  Amen.  1 Peter, Chapter 4, verses 10-11.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Instrument Christian

And to know the love of Christ; which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.  Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.  Amen.  Ephesians, Chapter 3, verses 19-21.

I was concerned that this passage might be one that people who focus on using “the god power within them” might use to support their belief in this erroneous concept.  This passage has listed Colossians, Chapter 1, verse 29 as a cross-reference.  It is really helpful to read this for clarification of what the passage in Ephesians really means.
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.  Colossians, Chapter 1, verse 29.
These two passages aren’t talking about using “the god power within me” to acquire the things you wish to attain or to accomplish.  What this is talking about, from what I understand, is that God works through us for His glory when we are the examples He wants us to be.  An illustration might be that we are there to support a friend or a co-worker who is at a major turning point in their life.  God was there working through us by our example.  He was there through our support, our comforting words and our telling them of how our faith in God gets us through the tough times.  He works through us in our explanation of the positive impact that God has had on our lives.
Being an Instrument Christian that God can use to touch the lives of others is a wonderful experience!  God works through different people in different ways, just like the passage I wrote about earlier that says God gives us each different types of gifts to glorify Him.  (Paraphrased)

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Ethical Christian

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.  Ephesians, Chapter 3, verse 17.

I like the mental picture that I get when I think of Christ dwelling in my heart.  I break His heart when I focus on making worldly choices.  I get caught up in looking at all the angles to save a dime, not necessarily because I need to.  It’s more of an intellectual challenge to find my very best deal and it’s exhilarating to find a bargain!
When I go to purchase things, I often look at all the prices that are stamped on the items.  Sometimes they mislabel them, pricing an item considerably lower than all the rest.  I know it must be some type of error but I’ve taken it to the cash register, exhilarated because I have found this great deal.
I try to rationalize it in my mind, saying that it’s the store’s fault for mislabeling things and they have to live up to their error or it is false advertising.  Then I usually get a strong, intense feeling that I’m doing something against my religious principals.  I know that I’m not being a good example of how God works in my life and I generally tell the cashier about the price difference.
I say generally, because writing this has made me aware that I just did this recently and I didn’t draw it to the cashier’s attention.  We were driving through Kansas on the way to see my grandkiddos for Christmas.  I have a very good friend whose daughter collects Wizard of Oz memorabilia.  I saw this figurine I wanted to get for her daughter and I found one that was marked $3.00 less than all the others on the shelf.  I rationalized this by telling myself that it’s from an older shipment that was marked the lower price, thinking the newer ones were marked the higher price.  This time, I never told the cashier.
I feel terrible about this, because I feel like I am being a hypocrite as I write this to you.  It just so happened that I still had the receipt.  I just went to see if it had an address on it, but it didn’t.  Of course, that would have been the chicken way out!  It would have been pretty easy to send this person $3.00 in the mail.  It did have the phone number on the receipt, so I called.
I apologized and wanted her address to send her the money.  (They don’t have mail service for the turnpike businesses.)  When she told me that wasn’t necessary, I explained that I consider myself a Christian and needed to live by my Christian ethics and I hadn’t.  I knew there had been a $3.00 difference in the price of the figurines and hadn’t brought it to her attention.
She told me not to worry about it, but I do—not because of the $3.00.  It bothers me that I could find it so easy to backslide into old worldly ways when I think I’m making great strides at being the Ethical Christian that God wants me to be.
This has been a very humbling experience for me.  Satan can sneak into our lives through very subtle things and I let him do it without even batting an eye!  Fortunately, Jesus dwells in my heart and lets me know when I’m not living the life that He wants.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Smug Christian

In whom we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.  Ephesians, Chapter 1, verse 7.

Sometimes I get a little arrogant and self-righteous and think about the good things that I think I’m doing for others.  Passages like this are very humbling.  They remind me of how Jesus gave His life for us.  As a Smug Christian, that’s why I have my Salvation, not from any things I do to earn it.  The things that we do for others need to be for God, out of love.  They shouldn't be to draw attention to ourselves or for us to become smug, thinking we are good Christians because we do these things.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
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