"What's Your Line?"

You remember the show, don't you? It was called, "What's My Line?" and I seem to have heard that it tried to make a comeback on the tube a while back.

The show featured guests with fascinating or odd careers, or unlikely positions in life (i.e., their "line," whence the show's title), and a panel of celebrities who would interview the guests to see which of the three was the real person with the fascinating tale to tell, and which two were just fakes trying to fool people. The panel would try to select the "real" person, and the more wrong votes they cast, the more money the guests would receive. The truth was always revealed when the host of the show would say dramatically at the end, "And now, would the REAL Bill Smith please stand up?!"

And Bill would stand.

It was a clever show with a fascinating premise: how many people can a person trick into thinking he's someone that he's actually not?

Sadly, there seems to be a parallel between the show and what sometimes happens in church life. The term, "getting dressed for church" doesn't always mean putting on a certain outfit: it may mean adopting a certain set of behaviors and responses. We want, after all, to live up to everyone's expectations when we go to church, don't' we?

However, it may be a different story when we go to work on Monday morning.

Or to the ball game on Friday night.

Or to the mall.

Or to a party with our friends.

It kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it, just how many roles the typical Christian tries to play. There's the work role and the home role; the "by-myself" role and the "with-my-friends" role; and, oh yes, the "going-to-church" role. No wonder that God often calls out to those who can hear Him, "Would the REAL you please stand up?!"

Some try to rationalize their role-playing by making it sound spiritual: "I'm just trying to 'be all things to all people,' like the Apostle Paul said." Right!? Let's not forget that Paul's motive was to win more people to Christ. Could our motive be that we just want to fit into our culture, or be accepted by people? All the while, we disregard God's commands about fitting into His Kingdom and being more like Jesus.

What God is seeking from His people is NOT that they "fit in." Indeed, God expects us to stand up for Him, which means we may stand out. Since He expects us to make a difference in this world, it is necessary that we live differently from the world.

The next time you feel pressure to "fit in," or play some role, stop and ask God, "Who have you called me to be? Lord, please help the REAL me to stand up . . . for You."