Is it a bicycle?
My grandma always told me:
A bicycle has two wheels, but not everything that has two wheels is a bicycle.
Yes, one of the three things in the picture is a bicycle and has two wheels, but the other two things? Yes, they have two wheels, but they are not a bicycle. Even the motorcycle that looks like it is a motorcycle cannot even drive and is art and certainly not a motorcycle.
But if you don’t pay close attention, you’ll fall for it anyway: it has two wheels and so it must also be a bicycle. Wrong.
Now one step further:
Not everyone who comes to a church is a believer, and not everyone who believes is a Christian.
WOW! That’s an exciting one. Yes, we understand that. But take a good look around you. It must start to bother us somewhere when we have a good look around us… we are quick to call something a “bicycle”, but are we a real “bicycle”? We sometimes say: The devil also believes in God. The devil recognizes that God exists, and he really believes in it. But the devil, despite that faith, is not a Christian. To be called a Christian by God, more must happen than just faith in God.
And the problem is not that I (M) sometimes have huge doubts about “things with two wheels” that I see. If only that were the case, it would have been easy. But alas, this is what God himself has to say about it:
These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
Matthew 15:8
Oof. That’s a tough one. And again, that is not my opinion or judgment, this is literally what God says. And there is no escape from that. Oops.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:21-23
What do you do when you see a “bicycle” and you have serious doubts whether it is a real “bicycle”? Do you look again, do you just let that “bike” continue riding, or do you start a conversation? Not everything that has two wheels is a “bicycle”. How do you recognize a real “bicycle”?
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:27
If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Efeziërs 4:21-24
And now walk to a mirror and look into it. Is it really a “bicycle” i see, or is there still something that is not right about the picture you see in that mirror… Don’t fall for it, be critical because not everything that has two wheels is a bicycle. Today you can (and should) work on this if the picture is not correct. Because tomorrow may be too late.
Let’s end it on a happy note: We sometimes also see people who everyone thinks are not real Christians. Sometimes they literally live on the streets, never enter a church and they are very smelly. But they are real Christians! Who need help. But unfortunately, sometimes they didn’t get it because they didn’t even look like a bicycle, they looked that bad…. we don’t spare them a glance because “no bicycle”. Until you look again, then it is a bicycle! Yes, it is a wreck, can hardly be ridden anymore, rattles, but if you look closely, put some time into it, they are beautiful bikes that, with a little help, can ride around again in all their glory.
