Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. - 2 Corinthians 13:5
Another day goes by, another week, another month. Hopefully, we don’t allow a year to pass us before we follow the admonition of Paul. Stopping right this very minute - can we look at ourselves in the mirror and honestly declare that we are “in the faith?” Or would we be safer admitting to the admonition of the Apostle, John? - “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” - 1 John 1:8.
I believe that often, we let our worldly egos get the best of us. There are times when we hit a good stretch of “godly behavior” and after about five minutes we stumble hard against something we didn’t see coming. It might be something as simple as the guy who just cut us off on I-95 because he was self-absorbed or the guy behind us at the red-light who honks his horn because we were self-absorbed. The point is - “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.” - Ecclesiastes 7:20.
So here it is, Sunday, and we are on our way to services. Today is a special day for us because we know that today we are blessed to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Be careful! How far do you have to drive to church? For me, it is just over an hour on one of the busiest interstates in the nation - I-95! In Florida, it runs from South Miami to the Florida-Georgia line and on. And I believe that on any given day, I-95 entertains more species than Noah’s ark did. At least at times, it seems so. From speeders to slow-pokes to blinker-less lane changers to the tail-gaiters from hell, that road will test both your faith and the limits of your patience. Are we still sure that we’re “good,” that we’re in the faith and that Jesus Christ is in us? Or have the things we’ve thought or said disqualified us like a rabbit punch or an unsportsmanlike penalty?
When Paul tells us to examine and test ourselves, it’s not because he’s seeing how far and hard he can push us as people. It’s because he’s seeing how hard he can push our Christian faith! As always, we find ourselves in the breach. While meditating in prayer we find solace, a peace we cannot find anywhere else. But five minutes out the door and ten minutes down the road are we still enjoying the presence of Christ in our lives? Or have we, in such short order, reconverted to our worldly mode? As I ask this question I see me and not “we” in the mirror. Whom do you see? This is but to say that we have been created anew in Christ Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” -2 Corinthians 5:17.
I hear the objections. I have raised many of the same myself. “We aren’t perfect. We’re going to stumble from time to time. We can’t always be in the Spirit or in the faith.” Perhaps, perhaps not, but we need to be vigilant and on guard against the worldly antagonisms which can so quickly rob us of our peace. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” - Romans 12:2. Skills only come with constant practice. We cannot be in the faith once a week. We must be in the faith throughout each and every day of our Christian lives. And we do so by, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” - Romans 12:12.
We can catch ourselves before we roll off the Lord’s table and onto the ground. When we do, we must resort to what should come first to us in all situations: prayer! It is the only means by which we can obtain and maintain His gentle peace. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” - 1 John 5:4. So, on those occasions when we are driving our hometown roads, the thoroughfares of the city and the interstates of the world let us do so in constant prayer and know we are in the faith.
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