In Matthew’s gospel, we find a story about John the Baptist coming on the scene as a New Testament prophet proclaiming the coming of the Christ. He was baptizing those who wanted to be identified with the new coming kingdom later called Christianity.
There were those who came to him to be baptized who were not sincere and had no desire to change. John responded to them with these words: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, “Show that you want to be genuine or real.”
We have the same thing played out in our world today. There are those who want others to think highly of them, want others to think that they are followers of Christ when they are not. There is no desire to change their evil ways or to be sincere.
I was talking to a person just the other day who recently had decided to be a Christ follower. She said that when she was a teen, others had invited her to go to church with them. She was turned off by their behavior; they were different people on Sundays compared to the rest of the week.
Then when she became a young adult, some other friends invited her to church, but she again was disappointed to find out that they lived different lives away from church people. Thank God the Lord was faithful to her; she decided she was responsible for her own life and they were responsible for theirs.
We need to realize hypocrites really don’t fool others; it won’t take long for others to see who they really are. But hopefully, you are one who not only professes to follow Christ but also lives it. Hopefully, you walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
We need to examine our own lives and ask the Lord to help us to be better witnesses. If you are not genuine, make that choice to let the Lord change you.