Markers

When you see a fireman you know he is a fireman because he looks like a fireman.  He has a helmet and fire suit, he might be carrying an ax or a hose, or  be driving a big red fire truck.  There is little doubt that he is a fireman.
I sometimes wish that this was true of Christians.  I wish that we got a uniform or a badge or something.  Instead we are left with being known by our love for others and consequently our actions.  I would like to propose a recycling of an old idea.  I would like Christians everywhere and from all denominations to come together and come up with a list of  specific behaviors that would be the uniform of the Christian.  I recently read the Rule of St. Benedict and I think that he had some good ideas on how a monastery should be run and that many of them would be good ideas for the rest of us who are not monks.
What if we banded together and said we were going to honor the sabbath by not working on Sunday (Jews still don't work on Saturday), we were going to fast every Wednesday and Friday by not eating lunch (the Church has done this most of its history), and we all pray 3 or four times a day (also something the Church has done most of history)?
None of these things will bring salvation but they can lead to a better, stronger Church.  And these are not the only markers that could work.  What other common specific behaviors could mark the Church and its people?

Jesus Must Want Me to be Poor

This is the wrong time of year for attempting to be a better Christ follower.  I have been trying to live the teachings of Jesus and lately I have been trying to give to everyone who asks.

Luke 6:30 says, “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back." (NASB)

I was out to restock the house with snacks and Kool-aid today and got hit up by beggars.  One of the beggars was the cashier, the store is raising money for St. Jude's Hospital.  The other was a group of women asking for money to help battered women.  It was the only time I left the house today, and I gave to two causes.  I wasn't even out of my truck more than 5 or 6 minutes!

When I got home I told my wife, "Jesus must love me being poor!"  I hadn't told her that I had been trying to give to people who asked yet and so she looked at me funny and I explained.  I like giving, don't get me wrong, but we are on a tight budget because we are trying to get out of debt as quickly as possible.  I only get so much money that I can do whatever I want with.

After I explained my new attempts to do the things that Jesus taught, my wife immediately starting asking for this and that.  Nothing big, just to share the snacks I had just bought for me (she and boys are less discriminating than I am when it comes to snack foods, the house had plenty of things for them). Next thing she wanted was me to follow her around the kitchen and rub her back while she got dinner started. I wasn't amused.

I know that soon the Salvation Army will have the bells and red buckets, and nearly every other charity will be out raising money.  Christmas is on its way.
I want to take Jesus at His word so I am going to load up my pockets with change for the red buckets and try to carry single dollar bills as often as I can.

This must have been what Jesus means when he warns us that following Him will not be easy, but come with a cost.  (See the last half of Luke ch. 14)