Being Who I say I am

Two Faced

Have you ever pretended to be someone else?

Like for a joke it’s funny, we can be like someone else but we know at the end of the day we are not someone else but ourselves.

However sometimes we like to live like double agents, where how we act around one group of people is different then how we act around another.’

The worst is when the two groups mix together.

Think about if your parents were to come to youth group, or how about school. They were to stick with you, saying nothing but just watching how you interact with your friends.

Would your parents see a new side of you? would they be shocked or would they be pleased?

This is called being two faced. where we put one different faces with different people.

And Jesus talks about this, through parables where he tells a story that relates to the topic.

Now we are going to jump in to Matthew 21:28-32. However I want to encourage you to read the whole chapter this week, everything in the chapter talks about this very topic and it’s all helpful.

Matthew 21:28–32 NIV

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

The person who does not say they will do it and does it is in the right?

think about that for a minute, what is Jesus trying to get at? What is the purpose of his message?

What is more important to say we will do something or to do it?

Jesus ends by saying to the religous leaders of the day, that they were not close to the mark, they would say they followed but never live like it.

However the people who the religous leaders would not eat with would be doing it and just not saying they follow.

So it’s clear there is two choices to do or not to do.

I don’t think Jesus was even talking about admittance of discipleship. He was rather talking about how you have a choice to follow with action or not to.

Words are Cheap, what you do will speak volumes.

So what does that mean for you?

Well if you say you are a Christ follower who are you at school? who are you at home? who are you outside of youth? are you doing the things that show you follow Jesus?

The worker was the one who said they would not do it but ended up doing it, the worker is the one who put the work into the vineyard.

For your life that means:

do you practice your faith daily,

yeah in the ways of reading your bible or praying, but even more is how do you act towards yourself and/or others when there is nobody around that holds you accountable. Are you a Christian when you walk out of this group? When you go to school?

Do you treat everyone with love even if you thoroughly dislike them?

Do you honour your family when you are not with them?

I want to encourage you come clean if you feel like your living two different lives, because at some point there is going to be a tension where the two worlds clash and then people will really know who you are.

Jesus is inviting you to be the person who lives the gospel not the person who says it.

That’s his heart, that you would live the changed life as a result of his life, his death and his resurrection. Not that you would say that you follow Jesus to me or your parents, but that you would live it, in the way you act around people day to day.

Here is my challenge to you this week:

That if you feel like you live two faced, then to come clean and confess to the people who you don’t want them to know that side of you. I know that sounds hard, but what is worse is hiding a life away from people and having it catch up with you in the end.

I rememeber times in highschool, one was a competition where me and my team were comepeteing and my parents came to watch but I would swear like every other word with my friends. So my two lives caught up, I was the Christian guy at home but someone who spoke poorly to everyone he met. I remember the weight my heart felt knowing my parents found out the way they did.

So I want to encourage you to not let your other life catch up with you.

So:

Confess the twofaced life to God and to the people you want to hide it from.

Live out the Bible, which is a big thing, but take it slow;

Like I said I would swear pretty often and it was a habit I had to conquer, it took alot of will power, catching myself when I swore. Or even more I would have a stutter when I was about to swear and a split seconad where I had to choose my next word.

Now this could be however you live, if it’s swearing like me or if it’s gossiping or leading girls or guys on or coveting or lying often.

Don’t be the person who says I follow Jesus and then doesn’t. But act like a disciple if you want to follow Him.

What happens if you are told to do your chores and you don’t?

What happens when you are not told to do your chores and you do them?

Do you feel like you live two lives? How/Why?

What are the consequences of being two-faced?

How can you live like a Christian at School, or in Clubs, or in Sports or..... (How can you be one person every where you go?)