For quite a few years now I’ve had people in a variety of professional places and settings ask me if I’m a Christian or if I go to church. It happened again today at work. This person I just met today and spent some time talking to asked me, “Do you go to church?” I told him I did and he said, “I can tell.” How could he tell? All we talked about was UFC/mixed martial arts fighting and Smallville. (NOTE: UFC is a professional, mixed-martial arts fighting sport. Smallville is a TV series about Clark Kent and has covered his life from his freshman year in high school to his present job at the Daily Planet. Neither one of these topics has anything to do with God!)
Now, I believe that going to church and a relationship with God are two different things but my relationship with God compels me to go to church. I also understand that when some people ask “Do you go to church?” they are really asking, “Do you believe in God?” After this man left to go do other work I wondered how it is that I get asked with no forewarning if I am a Christian or if I go to church. I realized a short time later that God is answering a daily prayer of mine that prompts some people to ask.
About two hours after talking with new UFC/Smallville friend, I rode the elevator with two other ladies on my way back from lunch. Both of these ladies had on Harley Davidson (HD) apparel. In addition to her HD t-shirt, one woman had on a skull-cap style bandanna with the Harley Davidson emblem centered right in the middle of her forehead. There was no way you could miss her advertisement and her loyalty to HD. As I got off the elevator I thought about my loyalties. I have White Sox apparel. I was even wearing my White Sox hoodie on the elevator ride! I have White Sox stickers and a White Sox license plate holder on my car. People don’t have to be around me very long to discover that I enjoy baseball and, most especially, the White Sox.. Evidently, some people don’t have to be around me very long to discover I believe in God.
Ironically enough, I don’t wear a skull-cap with “Loyal to God” on it. I don’t have a fish symbol on my car. (I’d have to be more careful about going the speed limit if I had one of those!) And I don’t even have a t-shirt that reads, “Jesus, the real thing” (but then I’m Pepsi drinker anyway!). So how is it that people pick up on my faith in God?
I think people sense something different and attribute it to God (or church) because of how I treat them. Every day I ask God to develop within the characteristics of His Spirit. These characteristics are called the “fruit of the Spirit.” They are love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (see Galatians ?). I more specifically ask for God to develop in me the characteristics of love so that I will be even more patient, kind, and gentle. I also want love to be expressed through me by being a person that is not easily angered, doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, and is not easily offended (see I Corinthians 13:4-8). I readily admit that I also ask God to let people see Him in me and be attracted to Him as a result.
I realize today that God has been answering my daily prayer for others to see Him in me. After all, the Bible states that people will know we are Christians by our love…not our skull-caps.
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2 comments:
Hmmm, perhaps I should begin to take note of the questions I am asked daily. Could that be a report card of sorts to how I am growing & producing fruit?
I like your idea of a report card. That's a great analogy.
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