How Is Your Galilean Accent?

I remember the person who first witnessed to me about Jesus Christ. She was my friend's wife, who I had hired to work for me. We would commute home every day and she would witness to me. I do not remember what she said about God. I do not remember her ever quoting Scripture to me. What I remember is her Galilean accent. For my friend Annie, her Galilean accent was evident in her constantly cheerful demeanor. No matter how bad the day might have been at work, Annie had the joy of the Lord and it was evident for all to see. People looked at her and knew she was different. They could hear her Galilean accent in every smile in the face of adversity. Annie of course was not from Galilee but she had Christ in her. We are the same.

Our key verse comes from the middle of the three denials of Christ from Peter. Jesus had warned Peter that he would deny Him that very night and Peter would fulfill the warnings. He follows Jesus at a distance after He has been arrested. Peter winds up warming himself by a fire, watching the end of Christ's ministry unfold. As he stayed by the fire, the slave girl noticed that he looked familiar. The key verse says that she noticed Peter, saying his Galilean accent stood out to her. What is it about us that stands out for Christ in this world? For my friend Annie it was her irrepressible joy. That was her Galilean accent. The more time we spend with Christ, the more we are supposed to take on His attributes. The more His Spirit grows within us the more the fruit of the Spirit is cultivated. While the Spirit may be willing within us the flesh remains weak. So the question for us is which do we seek to feed and which do we seek to starve? If we spend time at church, reading the Word of God at home, praying, and focusing on the things of God then we will feed our Spirit and by doing so we will develop our Galilean accent for all to hear. If we tend to feed our flesh however we can expect the opposite affect. If we continue to mix ourselves with the world we will feed the flesh.

Unfortunately today one of the schemes of the enemy that has been working very well is to continue to get Christians to compromise who they are and what they believe. We see it in our walks and our churches. We resist the transformation mentioned in the Romans verse. We do not want to be seen as knowing how to speak Galilean. We prefer relevance to the culture of the world than seeming apart from it. I think too many Christian leaders and pastors simply have it wrong. We are supposed to be different from the world. We are supposed to stand out. When I remember Annie, I know it was her difference that drew me to consider Christ. Her fruit was evident to me.

Will we be perfect? Of course not, but we should be transformed more and more into His glory as we draw closer to Him as Lord. The fruit of the Spirit should become more and more evident in our lives. Maybe one gives us more trouble than others but something should make people see that we are different. Our Galilean accent should become more and more pronounced.

We should want our accent to become more and more pronounced. Remember though, to whom much has been given - much is required. We cannot claim the mantle of Christianity with our accent and then deny Him with our lives. What do I mean? I am sure we all know folks who wear Christ on their sleeves yet treat the people they are supposed to reach with the Gospel with utter contempt. Peter called curses down upon himself within his denial of Christ and sometimes we too can do the same in how we treat the very people we are supposed to reach. When we condmn the world for their sin we are denying Christ to the very people we are supposed to represent Him to. When we think we are better than anyone else we are denying Christ to the very people we are supposed to represent Him to. When we stand apart from Christ warming ourselves by the fires of this world - we are denying Christ to the very people we are supposed to be representing Him to.

We were once lost in this dying world too. I remember who God sent into my life to show me Christ. I remember Annie and her Galilean accent. I remember she was different. Not perfect or holy. Not super-spiritual or floating on a cloud playing a harp. Just different and that difference stood out to me. It made her more real. She wasn't trying to be relevant to me. She was trying to do one thing - show me Jesus Christ. Let us strive to do the same today beloved. Let us strive to show people the God who saved us and pray that they can tell us by our Galilean accent.