Acknowledgements through action, not words

I continue to get emails from well-meaning friends, acquaintances, and even relatives that not-so-gently urge me to forward (what is in their opinion) their very important, spiritually relevant message as they remind me:

Jesus said to His disciples:
"I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.  But, whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God." (Luke 12:8-9)

What is denial of the Son of God? Surely it isn't just saying the words: "Jesus is not the Incarnate Son of God!" But rather, it involves behaving like Jesus' teachings are irrelevant.

There's an old saying, "Actions speak louder than words!"  So, we must be careful that our behavior in no way contradicts what we say we believe.

In order to call ourselves Christians, we must acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior. Some days, it will be easy.

Going to Mass each week we feel comfortable calling ourselves Christians and naming Jesus as our savior. We wear our crosses and go to Bible study where it is easy to call Jesus the Son of God, where we feel comfortable pronouncing our faith.

Do we treat Jesus with the same reverence when we go out on the weekends? Do we acknowledge Christ when we are out with our friends? Do we defend his name when asked why we remain in the church? Do we call ourselves Christians when it is not comfortable or the popular thing to do? Sometimes the right choice is not always the popular one. There will always be instances in our lives in which we find ourselves comfortable, then uncomfortable. If you called someone your best friend yesterday, would you stand up for him if he was being bullied today? Would you say you were proud of your son one day, then bail him out of jail the next?

We are called to treat these situations just as we are to treat our relationship with Jesus. We are not called to be like the disciples who were with him when he was popular then against him when he was a criminal. We are called to be like John and call him our savior until the bitter end. It will be difficult. In order to nurture our relationship with Him, we might challenge ourselves to implement daily prayer. We must live the gospel in our words and actions, treating the least of God's people as we wish to be treated. Perhaps most importantly, we must defend him in conversation when called to do so. Like many things in life, being a Christian is not always easy, but rewarding in the end. If we wish to be acknowledged on judgment day, it is our duty to acknowledge Jesus as God—though not necessarily by forwarding e-mails.