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The Evening Behavior of Christians

I never thought I would be writing an article like this. Maybe I have had just one too many haflis or evening receptions. Be that as it may, I am ashamed of the way some women dress, some men talk and act, some people dance and drink, and how they can bless themselves or wear the sign of the cross! Where is modesty in dress? Where is purity in thought and word? Where is prudence and temperance?

I am not a prude, nor am I a teetotaler, or a party pooper, but I am a Christian, and Christians have limits. In fact Christianity is about limits, boundaries, sacrifice, respectful love, our own good and the good of others. Unless we Christians set limits on ourselves in what we do and say, how we dress and act, we may as well have no faith or religious commitment at all. It doesn’t mean anything to us. The question of Jesus haunts me and should haunt all of us “when the Son of Man comes again will He find any faith on earth?”

One evening, while I was attending one of these social events, one that especially inspired these remarks, as the Christians partied, I noticed a Muslim couple, the wife in hijab, with their modest affection towards each other and their collected self-respect and dignity. I was proud that they bore such witness to all present of chaste, modest, and noble love. Yet at the same time I was saddened that those who wore the cross around their neck and signed themselves with the same symbol did not likewise bear witness to love’s chaste and noble values.

A Christian is one who believes in his/her heart and acts with an appropriate lifestyle, behavior, modesty and purity. I hope and pray that every reader will consider what I am saying. This pertains not only to evening haflis and receptions, but also to the bar scene, evenings out, and to a variety of other entertainment.

We are destroying ourselves from within, no one has to do it from outside. We destroy our marriages, families, children, our noble way of life, and all for what? The privilege of wearing the cross also requires the responsibility of living and acting in a way Christ would be proud of. Are we worthy to wear the cross around our necks or to sign ourselves with it?

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Gregory John Mansour

(Reprinted with permission.)