Branding Yourself a Christian....

Have you ever been driving down the road or pulling into a parking lot (or drive through) and the car in front of you has any of the following:

A sticker representing their church.
A 3D christian fish symbol.
A religious anti-abortion bumper sticker.
A decal of a piece of scripture.

And you noticed this only because that person was:

Speeding and dodging through traffic.
Tossing their trash out the window.
Road raging at the elderly driver ahead of them going below the speed limit.
Giving the "bird" signal to someone who cut them off.
Being rude to the person taking their order at the drive through.
Yelling at their children in the car who are acting up.

When you take the bold step to put a sticker identifying yourself as a Christian, it's like being branded.  You are letting everyone you come in contact with (directly or indirectly) that you belong to Christ.  And when we act in an un-Christ like manner, what do you think people think of us?

They call us....

Hypocrits.

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV)
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

If you are going to make the bold step in branding yourself a Christian, for the world to see... whether by marking your vehicle, getting a religious tattoo or standing out on the street corner proclaiming the word... it is important to remember that the world is watching you.  And, how you behave toward them and others they witness...will determine not only how they see you.  It will also affect how they see me, and any other Christian they come in contact with.

I am NOT the boss.

Since I was a small child, I have been a bit of a boss. Some would say it is my Irish heritage, others would say that I am like my grandmother. The fact of the matter is, I can be bossy. Really bossy. A fact I have spent years trying to correct. Couple my inherent bossiness with my need for justice, and I am a force to be reckoned with. A great example of this, will take us on a journey to about 10 years ago.

I was working in direct sales & I was doing really well in the company, leader over my entire state. I also and had a very good relationship with the owner of the company.    We were getting ready for a large training event, and I sincerely disagreed with a decision the owner had made. I confronted the owner about it. I continued the disagreement with her over the issue to the point we had to have mediation through a neutral third party.

It was during a women's conference, about a year later, that in a single moment truth hit me. Who was I? Who was I to think I could tell this woman how to run her company? Right or wrong, this was not MY company. I had no right to expect her to bend to my demands.  I came home and immediately drafted a letter of apology to her. It had nothing to do with my feelings about the decision, but everything to do with me taking accountability for my actions. She graciously accepted my apology & our relationship began to heal over time.

Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.

In my situation, I certainly felt I was right. Sometimes though it is not about being right, it is about being wise.   I made poor decisions on confronting the owner, poor decisions on how to react to her stance & in the end poor decisions on my part on how to proceed further.   The deeper I allowed myself to get into the argument, I became angry & I gave full vent to that anger. I made it personal, I elevated the situation and ultimately I brought us to the point of mediation. If I were wiser at that time, I would have tempered myself and my tongue.

Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Once I was able to realize my error, I was able to make amends. But, what was a strong relationship was going to take time to heal. It was a hard lesson to learn, but once you learn such a lesson you strive to not repeat the same mistake again.

God wants us to approach situations with wisdom and not foolishness.

Two women were before King Solomon, each claiming a child as their own. Solomon ordered the child to be cut in half, then each woman would be given half of the child. The true mother could have continued to argue that the child was hers. She would have been right, but her decision would have cost the life of her son. Instead, she opted to make a wise decision. She told Solomon to spare his life and give him to the other woman. It was through this wise decision on her part, that Solomon knew who the real mother was. The woman who put aside being right, and instead spared the life of the child. (A Wise Ruling 1 Kings 3:16-28)

Can you think of a time where your quest to be right, cost you more than you would have gained?

How can you rectify this past occurrence, or prevent it from happening again?

Heavenly Father, I ask you today to guide my words. Guide me to fight the good fight and to turn the other cheek. Help me to discern between being wise and being right. Let me find peace in times of strife & help me to find the path to restoration in relationships my decisions may have damaged. Through you I can forgive and be forgiven. Amen.

* Written by Gena McCown for the TC3 Women's Ministry Devotion Blog

Full Scale Invasion

 

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take thought captive to obey Christ.

                                                                                                            2 Corinthians 10:3-5

When you read the above scripture, I am sure you are getting a mental image of those of whom we may come up against as Christians.   You will most likely assign this scripture to the non-believer, living in your home... at your workplace... or the stranger on the corner you just encountered.  You probably wouldn't expect this to apply to our interactions with a believer.  If you are a parent, you will.  Because one day your teen just might be this person.

For us it started on a Sunday morning with a teenager who simply didn't want to get up early and go to church.  I remember being a teen and loving my sleep, I still do.  I remember giving my mom a hard time about getting up.  I don't know why I expect any different from my own child.  But I do.  

What would happen of the course of the next 40 minutes of getting dressed time, and then travel time to church was an unfriendly exchange.    Here is just a sampling of some of it:

"When you are no longer living under my roof, then you can sleep in on Sundays.  As for now, I am accountable for you & when I meet God... I don't want to have to answer for not waking your butt up on Sunday mornings".

Not my most proud moment.

"Church has a purpose, it is a place where we learn more about God, and ourselves."

Better.

"What if I don't want to learn anymore about God?"  (retorts my teen)

This was the turning point & would build into an argument that lasted until we pulled into the church parking lot.

What a great way to start our Sunday morning.  Angry.  Frustrated.  Defeated.  Unsure.  Sad.

The goodness from this morning was that later, there was restoration.  My teen came to me & admitted she was just tired and cranky.  This is what I have come to understand to be the equivalent of "I am sorry".  She took responsibility.  I apologized (actually used the word sorry) about allowing my temper to get the better of me.

It was this particular day that would bring me to the realization that I can't be my daughter's Holy Spirit.  My daughter accepted Christ as her Savior and was baptized several years ago.  I know that in her heart she loves God, but she is rebellious and a boundary pusher.  Just like her mom.

So, I started to back off some.  Trying to be an example.  Taking the chances to talk when they would come up.  And they do come up.

Then I was reminded one day of how argumentative I would get with my sister, when she would talk about God.  I would get into some fairly heated discussions with her.  She was 10 years older than I, she came to Christ when I was in middle school and honestly by high school I didn't get it.  

I wasn't raised in the church.  I didn't understand God.  I just understood a rule book, where the rules were set by a domineering "higher power".

My sister was able to destroy my arguments and lofty opinions, she had knowledge of the Word to back her up.  But was very resistant for a long time, for reasons now I understand to be fear of condemnation.  At that time I had no understanding that grace and mercy existed or what "salvation" really was.

It came to me only recently, that I was taking a very passive seat to my daughter's relationship with God.  I was praying the prayers that mother's pray....

"Lord soften her heart toward you, help her to see that you are God and want what is good for her.  Keep her from harm, bring her to a place where she can not deny you, and allow her to find good friends that help and not hinder her.".

I was asking God to be gentle with her heart.  

Only now I realize that as a mom, I want more than that.

Ephesians 6 has us putting on the armor of God.  This is not just defensive armor, but also offensive armor.  This is being ready to stand firm & not be moved... but also to advance forward.  I realized that I needed to take action.

That is when I began my prayers for an invasion.  

I have begun praying that God will invade my daughters heart.  Not gentle knocking, but door pounding.  For her to be unable to deny Him, for her to not be able to keep that door shut because He is already in there.  I want a full scale invasion of her mind, body and soul.

I am willing to fight for her relationship with God.  I am not going to push her so hard that she runs away from "religion" traumatized... but I am going to be more intentional, more ambitious in sharing the Word and God with her, and stand firm in the convictions of this family.

Lord invade her heart, so that there is no room for anything but you.

And while you are at it.... invade mine too.

And my husband's.

And our other children's.

Amen.