Article February 9, 1981 Issue

Am I a twenty-four-hour-a-day Christian?

J. DARROW KIRKPATRICK

This question bowled me over one morning when I was praying about a business difficulty. I could count a number of hours a day given to prayer, Bible study, church work, and even a few moments when I would leave my work routine to pray about specific business or personal conditions. But I was still bothered by the question. The master Christian, Christ Jesus, said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."^{John 8:31, 32.} We all want to be free—free of disease, sin, lack, business problems, and so forth. But how can we gain or keep our liberty? By continuing in Jesus' words or, as Paul tells us, by "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."^{II Cor. 10:5.}

As I considered my present business problem, I began to see that to follow in Jesus' footsteps, the Christ-spirit must pervade my daily activity—all of it, not just certain parts. Mrs. Eddy calls us to this standard in the sixth tenet of Christian Science: "And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure."^{Science and Health, p. 497.}

It often seems easy to accept war, famine, inflation, family and community inharmonies as valid—or worse yet, as necessary. But to do so is denying the Christ; it is not watching and praying for Christliness, nor is it obeying the Ten Commandments and Jesus' teachings. To follow in the Master's footsteps and to obtain true freedom, every ungodlike and therefore untrue thought must be replaced with the Godlike, the real. This is Christian Science treatment which we can bring to bear on any condition or situation— personal health, business, community, or world problems. To follow in the Master's footsteps is to behold continuously the allness and reality of God's goodness while simultaneously seeing the powerlessness of evil, in everything we do. Such an approach destroys sin and sickness and brings greater peace into our lives. I had proved this in the past by replacing fear with a knowledge of how God's love encompassed me. This change resulted in improved public speaking. Also, as I had replaced a sense of pressure with an understanding that God's joy is given to all mankind, a longstanding and very severe case of chest congestion was healed.

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