April 29, 2020 - Do we realize that the world is watching what we do? People get their concept of the church and Christianity by the life that we live, the things we say and the things we do. What will be the legacy we leave behind after we are gone? What kind of example are we living before our friends? In life, especially in the uncertain times we are living in, people are looking for something real to hold on to. They are looking for people who are genuine to look up to and follow.
I read an interesting story about a tavern in a small college town that was frequented by students. The week before Parent’s Weekend, the tavern ran an ad in the campus paper that said, “Bring your parents for lunch Saturday – We’ll pretend we don’t know you!” When the college chaplain saw the ad, he decided to challenge it with one of his own. He posted a revised version on the campus bulletin board. It read: “Bring your parents to Chapel Sunday – We’ll pretend we know you!”
The greatest contribution that you and I can make to the church is to emulate in our lives the life of Jesus. The church is made fun of, spoken evil of and held up for ridicule most often because members of the church do not exemplify the life of Jesus. There is a disconnect in what we say and the way we life. Put another way, as we have heard all of our lives, we fail to practice what we preach. We need to make sure the thunder of what we are does not drown out the whisper of what we say we are!
It’s something to think about . . . tbp
