A Clown for Christ | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: A Clown for Christ | Previous Challenge Entry
By Funmilayo Ojedokun
02/14/20
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To say that Lara was the butt of all the jokes at her office would not be too far from the truth. It didn’t matter what the topic of conversation was, there would always be a way to work in Lara and “her thing”. That’s what they called it now. “Her thing”. Everyone treated it like some dirty habit. But oh, how they loved to make fun of her for it. Over time, the broom closet on the fifth floor had become her haven whenever the heckling became too much to bear. And it was in that closet that she sat now as she wryly reflected on “her thing”.

She couldn’t remember exactly when the teasing started but Lara did remember the day it became “her thing”. She had come in a little late because her early morning Bible Study group had gone on a little longer than expected. As soon as she got in, her boss Tobi had called her into his office. When he asked her why she was late, he growled “It better not be that thing!” Lara had smiled sheepishly. No one said having an agnostic for a boss would be easy. To be fair though, this was the third time she was coming in late that week. She apologized and it seemed that was the end of it.

Later that day, Tobi called her into his office again – this time with her co-worker, John. They’d gotten an urgent call from a major client who was threatening to take away his business. Tobi was worried and needed the team to brainstorm on what needed to be done. Without thinking, Lara had replied “Well, first we need to pray about it.” She still turned a little red whenever she remembered the look they both gave her. Was she even from this planet?

After work that day, she had to attend the send-forth party for Leslie, the pretty brunette from Accounting who was moving to another State. Everyone had to give a little speech and when it was Lara’s turn, she spoke about what she knew best – Jesus. It wasn’t a sermon or anything. She still remembered what she said toward the end, “Leslie…we’re all really going to miss you and we wish you nothing but the best. We love you and you should know that. But as much as we love you, I just want you to know that there’s someone that loves you even more and His name is Jesus. He loves you so much that He died so that you could live. It might not make a lot of sense but let me just tell you…He’s real and His love is even more real!”

And that’s how the jokes started. Kay from Legal, beer in hand, had yelled from the back, “Pastor Lara…ladies and gents. Available for weddings, funerals and maybe Bar Mitzvahs?” Everyone burst out laughing and Lara slunk shyly back to her seat. From that moment on…it was “her thing”. That day, Lara vowed never to speak about her faith again. She would play “agnostic” right along with the lot of them.

And for a while, she did keep to that. But about two months after that party, she got a call from Leslie. She had been thinking about what Lara said that day. She’d wanted to call earlier but had just then gotten the courage. They talked for hours as Leslie poured out her heart and Lara explained everything she knew about Jesus. At the end, Leslie made the decision and accepted Him as her Lord and Saviour. It was such an amazing feeling for Lara to have led her friend to salvation.

After that, it no longer mattered to Lara what her colleagues said. She would talk about Jesus any chance she got. She decided she would gladly be the office clown if it meant leading people to the saving knowledge of Christ!

"Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!" ~ Matthew 5:10 GNB

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