Encouragement

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I remember as a kid getting invited to go to a friend’s house or sometimes out of town with my friends and her family. (Carowinds, lake, camping, etc.)

Every time, as I made my way out the door with my overnight bag, my dad would say “Behave and act like somebody!”

I used to think that was so funny. I would say “I AM somebody!” and laugh as I left. I knew what he meant. He meant “mind your manners and remember whose child you are.”

I understood that anything I did (or didn’t do) reflected on him and my mama and I had no desire to embarrass him or my mama. For obvious reasons...my mama had a switch and she wasn’t afraid to use it.

Sometimes he would tell my brother and me that before he left for work and we left for school…”Behave and act like somebody.”

I have never forgotten that. My mom and dad are both gone, but I am very much aware of whose child I am and I have tried to live my life in a way that brings honor to them both.

As Christians, we have the same responsibility to Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

An ambassador is a representative. The Bible tells us that we are representatives of Christ. In all that we do or don’t do. Just as my dad expected me to be a good representative of him and the family, Jesus expects the same from us. My question is are we living up to his expectations.

It is easy to be a good ambassador when things are great. When we can come and go as we please, when all is right with the world, when we have plenty of toilet paper. But what about in times like this?

In times like this, every Christian is a minister. Every minister is a televangelist. We have an opportunity to share the Gospel to thousands through social media. But here is the thing...does it make us a good ambassador if we go online and give a devotion then go to Walmart the next day and grab as many Clorox wipes and as much bread as we can, whether we need them right now or not? Are we good ambassadors when we blatantly ignore what our elected officials have told us about social distancing and continue to come and go as we please and congregate in large groups? Are we being good ambassadors when we bash people on social media, even if they are elected officials, even if they are doing things and making decisions we don’t agree with? What do we look like to those folks who may be unchurched and unsaved? Are they attracted to the version of Christianity we represent? Are they seeing us trying to help or trying to hoard? Are we showing them the hope we have found in Christ or are we feeding the fear? Are we saying “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” and then speaking in fear in our posts or to our families? When all of this is said and done, the church will be different, but in the meantime, will our actions as Christians help or harm the cause of Christ?

As you go about your daily lives, at work, at home, in the grocery store...remember who you belong to. Remember who you are and whose you are.

Behave and act like somebody!




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