Witness Relocation Program

The federal witness protection and relocation program is a popular theme in movies.  The idea is that someone is going to testify against a dangerous character and their life is in danger as a result.  So they enter this federal protection program,  They are given a new identity.  A new birth certificate.  A new social security number.  A new history.  A new everything.

I was curious about this so I did some googling.  And it is a real thing.  They have placed over 18,000 people and given them a new start.  From what I found, they often keep their first names and maybe their initials.  They are given some money to get started, but are expected to make a living and support themselves.  Some of the people want to change their school records so that they got better grades or better references.  I guess that if you could rewrite your past, you might as well pick a good one.

In many ways, this is like the transformation that we make when we first become Christians.  Although our past is not gone and forgotten, in the eyes of God it completely is.  We get a new life as Christians, a fresh start and it is full of potential.  God is more concerned with where we are going than where we have been.  We don't need to inflate our school transcripts or pad our resumes.  God knows it all and He's OK with it.

One problem that they have with the witness relocation program comes when people do not really change but continue to cling to their old life.  They are wearing the disguise of their new life but never let go of the old.

Many people get into the witness relocation program because they have a checkered past.  If instead of embracing their new life, they repeat the mistakes of their old, it will never work.  Some people try to return to their old lives.  Or try to have it both ways.  Live the protected life, but still go back some times.  It never works that way.  You can't have each foot in a different life.

Much in the same way, to really live the Christian life, we need to embrace our new Christian identity.  We can't be living for God and living for the world.  Living a double life is like we are always in disguise.  Sometimes pretending to be Christians and sometimes pretending that our lives haven't changed, but always afraid that the disguise will slip and we will be found out.  That is a hard way to live.  To be a Christian we need to be all in.

Watch this video from Pastor Mike.

To be a Christian, we need to be all in.  We have been called to live a new life in Christ.  And to fully realize the blessings of this life we need to accept the new identity and not continue to live partially in the old.