Doctors on TV!

I'm old enough to remember the gentle, wise, and amazing omniscient Dr. Welby! The myth that was Dr. Welby shaped our expectations of physicians for decades! Everybody wished they had someone who was equally adept at diagnosing a cure for a broken heart and mending a broken arm in their own doctor's office. Today, we have Dr. Shepherd (a.k.a. Dr. McDreamy) on Grey's Anatomy. This neurosurgeon, whose demeanor and face stirs the hearts of American women who watch the program, is played by Patrick Dempsey, a 42 year old actor who dropped out of high school.

Doctors on TV are the creation of script writers. While the actors in the role may speak medically accurate lines due to help by medical professionals, nobody would seriously consider consulting them for real medical opinions. In time of sickness I don't want treatment from an actor who knows the phrases that might be spoken by a doctor; I want someone who is a real physician. I want to know he has invested years in study, has applied himself to rigorous disciplines, and that he has mastered the skills to intelligently and accurately evaluate my symptoms.

What does that have to do with our Christian life today? Here's the question:

How do you live and share the Gospel of Christ with your world, Believer?
Are you an actor uttering lines borrowed from another; or are you a real disciple who is applying himself to the work of knowing Christ and His Word deeply, intimately, and with increasing mastery?

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ came as the "Word become flesh," a real man, yet God, too - living among men! (John 1.14) He didn't come to us with a few lines he learned so He could sound profound or loving when the cameras were rolling. He came with the reality of God's Truth. He is very God, yet completely Man! He is "full of grace and Truth," meaning that He is who He appears to be, not a pretender, nor an actor.

We are commissioned to be "Jesus with skin on" in our world! I don't know who first coined the phrase, but it is one I use often. In a symbolic way I want to be an incarnation ("in the flesh") of Jesus. I want to make Jesus Christ and His Good News of love real and visible to people who interact with me. {Don't worry, I am not deluded by any sense that I am Jesus Christ!} My desire is to be filled with the Holy Spirit who He promised would make me (and all of His disciples) people who really live His life- in all times and places - until His Kingdom comes. How about you?

When people look behind the lines I speak or the words I write or the songs I sing, I want them to find a true disciple of Christ. More than once in my life I have experienced the disappointment of unmasking a "Christian" who was just an actor. Initially, they looked the part. They quoted the right Scripture at appropriate moments. But, then along came the stormy winds of life that blew away the mask. The mouth once full of blessing quickly turned to cursing. The veneer of love eroded in the storm's onslaught, falling away to reveal a heart full of hatred. What looked like faith proved to be nothing more than boasts of borrowed bravado!

Yes, Believer, I want to be a real disciple, not a pretender, like a high-school dropout playing a doctor on TV!

Jude is not kind nor gentle in his words about those who live hypocritically. Take a look and let the Word be a challenge to authenticity in your Christianity today.

"What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion. When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.
They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves.
They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain.
They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.
They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds.
They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness." (Jude 11-13, NLT) What a grim picture!
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Here's a hymn that I will make my prayer today. Will you join me?

Fill all my vision, Savior I pray.
Let me see only Jesus today,
Though thro' the valley
Thou leadest me,
Give me Thy glory and beauty to see.

Fill all my vision, Savior divine.
'Til with Thy glory, my spirit shall shine.
Fill all my vision that all may see,
Thy holy image reflected in me.

Fill all my vision, let naught of sin.
Shadow the brightness, shining within.
Let me see only Thy blessed face,
Feasting my soul on Thy infinite grace.

Fill All My Vision
Avis Christiansen © 1940 John T. Benson Publishing Company (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., 741 Coolsprings Blvd., Franklin TN 37067) CCLI License No. 810055