When a Printer Isn’t a Printer!

When I worked for Hewlett Packard as a printer and computer tech it was always interesting to listen to the problems people were having, and the descriptions they gave to them.

Some of my favorite came from the printer calls. You would hear things like: Yes, my printer just sits there and doesn’t work, or the paper doesn’t move, and of course – the lights just blink.

Of course it was obvious that there was a problem, but most times it was operator error. Usually it just sat there without the paper moving and nothing happening because it was either turned off, or unplugged. And when the lights blink that indicates that either the paper or ink are empty – or the paper is jammed. Yes there were exceptions, but most times it centered around these issues.

So, a printer is only a printer when it has the capability of printing, otherwise it is just a piece of computer hardware that is useless. It has to have paper, ink, power, and be plugged into a computer to have full worth.

Printers can be compared to people in some ways. Over 80% of people in the United States identify themselves as Christians, but some questions remain. Just like a printer, people calling themselves Christians need to have a power source, and input source, substance of life (ink), and an output (paper). Is a printer really a printer if it just sits there and can’t print? It is a printer only in name, after all – we bought the thing to print, not to just sit there and look pretty!

It’s the same with Christians. Just because someone calls themselves a Christian doesn’t make them a Christian. A Christian is someone who is plugged into Christ – has accepted Him as their personal savior (power source), Studies and meditates on His Word (input source), relies on God’s Spirit to empower/guide/direct them in what they do and say (ink), and lives according to Gods principles so other people both see and are affected by their life choices (paper).

Name tags, church membership/attendance, family name, wealth, position, rituals, nor any thing that you can do as a person makes you a Christian outside of submitting to Christ as Lord of your life.

2 Corinthians 5:14-17 (NLT)
Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!!