"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do -- living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you." - I Peter 4:1-4

In our world today, it is becoming difficult to distinguish the Christians from the pagans. We are all beginning to look and act alike.

This is particularly so with our church leaders. Many pastors now walk around in business suits. Obviously, they do not want to look like men of the cloth. Their preferred dress style makes it difficult for one to distinguish the difference between a pastor and regular business man.

Our lifestyles are the same. If Christians are living and acting like the pagans, then how do you tell the Christian from the pagan? Something is definitely wrong. The church is confusing her mission here on earth.

Recently I was scanning the Internet and discovered that many of the major church bodies have performed same-sex marriages. They call it blessings of unions, but the sin is all the same. Even though the homosexual lifestyle is in conflict with God's word, many churches sanction such an action.

All kinds of excuses are found to explain away God's word. However, it does not matter how we feel or what we think. God's word is the benchmark for life. It is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. God is a moral God and he does not change morally. The Bible is not a book that allows us to choose what we will accept and what we will reject.

It is not a buffet where we can say, "I need this and this and a little of this." We must take the whole book and live according to God's word. When it comes to making a choice to do the will of God, as opposed to doing the will of man, the will of God supersedes. The will of God is paramount to the human existence.

The apostle reminds the church, in the text, that when we become Christians our old selves die. We become new creatures in Christ Jesus. Jesus put sin to death in his suffering on the cross. He died to sin.

Therefore, we too should put sin to death in our lives. We are encouraged to arm ourselves with the same attitude of Christ. The exemplary life that Jesus lived while on earth has been an example for the church throughout the ages and still is an example for us today.

As Christians, the way we live speaks volumes about God. Our actions are just as important as our words. We cannot say one thing and live in opposition to what we say.

When we become Christians, we are to turn our backs on our past life. We do not continue to engage in previous evil practices. The apostle mentions six such sins in the text -- debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

Similar to the Christians of the apostolic area, we of the 21st century are called to live our lives free of these sinful acts. Our old friends probably would think it strange that we do not return to our previous life. However, in Christ, we die to sin.

As we make our Lenten walk and come to Easter, we are reminded to be aware of who we are. We are reminded that, as Christians, we cannot just say, "I need this... and this... and this." Instead, we are encouraged to live according to the scripture, the whole book, God's word. Amen.

o Reverend Samuel M. Boodle, pastor at The Lutheran Church of Nassau, can be reached at P.O. Box N 4794, Nassau, Bahamas, or telephone 426-9084, or email: lutheranchurch@coralwave.com.

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