Will the real Christian please stand up?
by Sarah Schwerin
I walked into the school, knowing my first day of substitute teaching would be a success. In my pressed khakis and dress shirt, I looked over the classroom teacher’s lesson plans, glad I’d arrived early. As the first-grade students filed in and put their backpacks away, I smiled at their cherubic faces.
A blond-haired girl stopped in the doorway and scanned the room. “Where’s the teacher?”
I leaned down, making eye contact with her. “I’m your substitute today.”
She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “No, you’re not.” Then, as if I weren’t in front of her, she continued scanning the room.
My heart pounded. I felt younger than my twenty-two years. A child playing dress-up. An imposter.
Take off, put on
Have you ever felt like an imposter — unqualified and unable to complete the job you’ve been called to do? Living the Christian life can be that way. It is intimidating when others are doing the exact opposite. Yet we must be different in our thoughts, actions, and feelings.
In Ephesians 4, Paul instructed the believers not to live as those around them lived. God had accepted the believers into His family, and they needed to take off their old life and put on their new life.
During my second year of college, I learned how challenging turning from one way of life to another way of life can be.
My professor slid a folder across her desk. “Look at these while I finish this work. Then we can go over them. I haven’t peeked at them yet, but I know you did great.”
I opened the folder that contained the evaluation forms from my sophomore practicum, where I had shadowed teachers in the classroom. God had called me to be a teacher, and I received top grades in all my classes. Of course, I had done a good job. Yet as I read, tears formed in my eyes.
Did not show initiative. Did not interact with the students. Not a good choice for a teacher.
I had sat in the back of the classrooms and observed. I thought that was my job. Yet as I read over the forms, I realized I needed to change from being a passive observer to an active participant. To become a teacher, I had to take off my old life — that of a student — and put on my new life — that of a teacher.
Think differently
The same thing is true in the Christian life. Putting on a new life starts with our thoughts. Who we are and how we act begins with how we think about ourselves and our world. In Ephesians 4:17, Paul warned, “This I . . . testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.”
Empty and futile thinking focuses on false and selfish information — a thought life that obsesses over social media reels and gossip, that believes lies about ourselves and those around us. This kind of thought life keeps us separated from fellowship and intimacy with God.
Paul describes the right kind of thought life in Philippians 4:8: thinking on whatever is true, noble, just, etc.
When we put on our new life, we need to get rid of all lies and selfish thinking. Our thought life should focus on truth and godly information, guided by the light of Christ.
When I read the comments on my evaluation forms, negative thoughts filled my mind. They’re right. You aren’t meant to be a teacher. Even if God called you, He made a mistake.
But my thoughts were lies. I needed to focus on the truth. God doesn’t make mistakes. He had called me to be a teacher. I was a teacher.
Act differently
Thinking that I was a teacher wasn’t enough. I also had to act like a teacher.
In her office, the professor and I came up with an action plan, another chance for success. Over the next few months, I completed a successful practicum at an elementary school near my home. This time, I studied the classroom teacher and imitated her example. I learned from the feedback I’d received and took an active role in the classroom.
In the same way, we as believers are to study God’s Word and imitate Jesus’ example. Some guidelines for our behavior are in Ephesians 4:32: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Feel differently
God’s Word contains an action plan for our success as believers. But what happens when we think differently and act differently, but we still don’t feel differently? We feel like an imposter.
On that first day of my teaching career, the girl looked for the real teacher, while her classmates looked on to see how I would handle the situation. I had thought I was a teacher, and even acted like one. But was I the real deal or an imposter? I wanted to run away and quit. I didn’t feel that I could succeed.
In a culture filled with lies and people who wear the old life with pride, putting on our new life is hard. Focusing on true and godly thoughts might seem impossible. Imitating Jesus is challenging when everyone else ignores Him and His teachings. Suddenly, those old ways of thinking and acting feel comfortable and right. Our feelings tell us we aren’t Christians, and even if we were, living the Christian life is impossible.
Yet the truth is, our feelings lie. Proverbs 28:26 says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.”
Just as I had everything I needed to complete my first day of substitute teaching, God gives us everything we need to complete the job we have to do when we become Christians. The Holy Spirit guides our thoughts and actions. His power enables us to live the Christian life.
If we believe in Jesus Christ, we aren’t imposters; we are His children. He guides us so that we can think and act differently. We might not always feel different, but that’s okay. We can trust that God lives in us, enabling us to follow His example.
The real deal
I knelt next to the mischievous first grader that day and spoke the truth she and I both needed to hear. “I’m the teacher. It’s my first day and I’m going to need your help. Can you help me pass out papers?” The day went smoothly when I ensured that she knew who was in charge and that she had a place in the classroom. Likewise, God is in charge and we have a place in His plan. Even when we feel like imposters, if we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, we are His children. When we imitate His example in our thoughts and actions, others will see that we are real Christians.
