Have you ever been accused of saying one thing, when in fact you said the opposite? Accused of believing one thing, when in fact you believe the opposite? Accused of doing one thing, when in fact you did the opposite?

I’ve got to admit I was pleased to read a news item this past week about a jury awarding Procter & Gamble $19.25 million for a false rumor that has circulated for decades, to the effect that the company's logo – a man-in-the-moon image facing 13 stars – concealed a satanic secret. A more recent version had the company’s CEO telling a TV audience that P&G gives money to the Church of Satan.

Rumors like that thrive on people who have a trusting nature, especially Christians who are rightly concerned about dangerous influences in society. Turns out the P&G rumor was helped along by some people who had a financial interest in another company that, like P&G, sells household cleaning products.

(There’s a bit of insight there about why some people would deliberately circulate falsehoods, if you care to dig it out.)

Recently, our church has been pursuing a dream to begin a weekday preschool to minister to the needs of families in our area. The first hurdle is to obtain a land-use permit from our town’s planning commission. This effort brought out neighbors who were not just against a preschool—they were very against a preschool. In fact, they were angry in their opposition. I told my wife, Mary Ann, “You’d think we were proposing to put up a strip mall.” In the course of voicing their opposition, there were accusations regarding our conduct, our character and our competency to operate a preschool (that almost sounds like a 3-point sermon outline.)

Unlike Procter & Gamble, we chose not to take them to court or even offer rebuttal to their accusations. We decided to remain quiet and allow our application to stand on its own merit. It did—we won the first round with an approval from the planning commission. However, it has been appealed and we will go before the city council for another ruling. I suspect the opposition will be back and louder than ever.

We already know how to respond.

People can talk all day about their love and devotion for God, but the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. If a person is really a Christian, there will be evidence of the change.

So here are a few questions we should ask ourselves as believers:

Do I obey the Word of God? We can’t obey it if we don’t know what it says. So first, we need to read it. Are we keeping His commandments?

Do I reject this world system that is hostile to God? When a person becomes a Christian, he or she sees this world for what it is, because his or her priorities have changed.

Do I eagerly await Christ’s return? If we truly are followers of Christ, we will look forward to the day when He will come again.

Do I see a decreasing pattern of sin in my life? That is not to say true Christians will not sin, because they will. But there is a difference between continuing in sin and trying to sin less and less.

Do I love other Christians? Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). If we are children of God, then we will love His people, and we will love to be around them.

After reading these questions, you may be thinking “I don’t think I measure up.” But I don’t measure up in every way either. There is always room for improvement. That is why it’s good to periodically examine ourselves to see whether we are doing what we ought to do.