A very active Christian in church went for a staycation in an expensive hotel. In many aspects, this person was respected in the church as a ‘emerging’ model Christian. Then a very sad incident happened. On checking out of the hotel, it was found that this person was smoking in the non-smoking room (evidences of cigarette butts and smoke smell). In the end, the person had to pay up to three times the room rate as restitution. That is not the worse part, the whole farce of a model Christian is now exposed. The person had been able to use correct Christian language everywhere he went, but it turned out that behind the back the life tells a different story.

We are not about to judge if a person is allowed to smoke or not. Nor are we about to judge anyone on anything at all. The whole idea is not to put up a farce to appear good. If we are indeed struggling with some form of bad habits (smoking, vaping, pornography, etc), we must be brave enough to ask for help. The effort of trying to hide them is much greater than asking for help and will likely bring more shame. Facing it up front and getting assistance can help us rise above the problem(s).

What more, Jesus is not one who will judge us. Nor will He accept us only if we are good enough. He loves us even when we are sinners. As long as we acknowledge Him as Saviour and Lord, we are His disciple. And as His disciple, we must keep growing and changing to become more like our Lord. There is no need to ‘hide’ behind some disguises. We are all ‘work in progress’. No one is perfect (Yes, I know that some in the church think that they are already so. We should just ignore those ‘self-righteous’ people). Christ made it possible for us to be accepted as we grow to be more like Him.

Brothers and sisters, as long as we are willing, we can and able to grow to be more like Christ. It will not be a one-day affair. It will be a lifelong endeavour. Let us move along this journey together.

God bless,
In Christ’s service,

Barry Leong

一个在教会里非常活跃的基督徒在一间非常昂贵的酒店里住宿。他在任何方面都可以算是一位“新兴”的模范基督徒。然而一件伤心的事发生了。在他办理退房的时候，他被发现在不可抽烟的房间里抽烟（证据是烟头和烟味）。最后，他得要付出房间原价的三倍价钱作为赔偿。这不是最糟糕的部分，而是有关这一个模范基督徒的假面具被揭穿了。他曾经到任何地方都可以使用对的基督徒术语，但是在生命的背后又是一个不同的故事。

这不是由我们来论断一个人可不可以抽烟。这也不是由我们来审断任何一个人的任何事情。整个想法是不要伪装或假冒为善。如果我们仍在坏习惯上挣扎（抽烟，电子烟，色情网站等等），我们应当勇敢的寻求帮助。我们为隐藏它们而付出的努力已经远超过寻求帮助的努力，也可能会带来更大的羞耻。直视问题然后寻求帮助可以使我们胜过问题。

更宝贵的是，耶稣不想要审判我们。祂也不是我们做得足够好才接受我们。当我们还在做罪人得时候祂就已经爱我们了。我们只要接受祂是救主和主，我们就是祂的门徒。我们是主的门徒，我们就得要成长和改变，这样我们就更像主。假装与隐藏是不需要的。我们都是“建造中”。没有一个人是完全的（我知道在教会里一些人认为自己已经是这样了。我们无需理会这些“自命清高”的人）。在我们成长更像祂的同时，基督让我们有被接纳的可能。

弟兄姐妹，只要我们愿意，我们可以成长像基督。这不是一蹴而就的事。这是靠毕生的努力。让我们一同迈向这一个旅程。

上帝赐福,
在基督里同工的，

Barry Leong