Are You a Copy of the Original?
by Carol Greene
Sometimes God speaks to us through the simple natural things around us, giving us revelation that drastically alters our perspective; this recently happened to me. My husband and I had on several occasions discussed possible reasons why American Christianity seems to be making such little impact on the society around us. We certainly aren’t “turning our world upside down” as the believers in Acts 17:6 were being said to do. Well, I believe that God gave me a small insight into the problem. I was making a copy of a form on our printer, and when it came out it was unclear and not very legible. The thought came to mind that I would have to find the original form in order to get a clear copy; making a copy of a copy just simply could not produce a quality similar to the original. Just as immediately as the thought entered my mind, a second thought followed it, as the Holy Spirit spoke, “That’s the problem with the church–too many copies are of copies and are not of the original.” The “copies of copies” are our tendencies to want to have a formula or pattern to follow that ensures us of being a “good Christian.” It may be different from one denomination to another or from followers of one Christian teacher, prophet, or leader to another, and could include doctrinal beliefs, certain political stands, using certain Christian lingo, dressing a certain way, listening to the “right” music, and the list goes on and on. We each can fill in the blank on what we believe makes us a “good Christian.” What the Holy Spirit was impressing on my spirit was that in order for me to present to the world an image that is clear and reflects accurately who Jesus is, my life needs to be a copy based on the Original, on a relationship with Jesus Himself.
Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice (John 10: 4, 14-16). Since He made this statement, then we really have no reason to believe otherwise; if we are truly born-again, then we have the capacity to hear His voice. He also said the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into truth and remind us of all that Jesus has said to us (John 14:26, 16:13-14). As followers of Jesus we are to be just that–those who follow Jesus, implying continual relationship. As we make our spiritual ears attentive to His voice and pay attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit we can know His heart and thoughts and begin to reflect His image more accurately, and that truly is what the world needs to see, an accurate image of our Savior and God.