I recently got new tires for my truck, and I can tell they handle differently. They’re new and shiny with deep tread again. I don’t worry about hydroplaning like I used to with my old tires, because instead of a half inch of tread, my tread’s like 14 inches deep! (or so it seems) But nobody on the road notices my new confidence. Nobody looks at my new tires as I drive down the interstate and says, “Look at the confidence he has! He must have new tires!” Nobody at work notices them in the parking lot. I’ve never walked out from Kroger and seen people gathered around my new tires pointing and standing in awe at the shiny new tires. I didn’t get them to impress anybody, I got them because I needed them. But regardless of how much surer I am driving with my new tires, or you do with your new tires, don’t expect everybody to just notice it. New tires is one of those things that if you want some to notice, you have to point it out. It’s just like your lucky rocketship underpants that give you a feeling of being 10 feet tall. Unless you actually say to someone, “I feel 10 feet tall today because I’m wearing my lucky rocketship underpants,” they’ll never know a thing about them.
That sounds a lot like Christianity. In our desire to blend into society, or more to the point, not stick out in society or be labeled as Bible thumpers or Jesus freaks, we like to say things like “just live it.” We justify our silence by saying things like, “I’ll share Jesus by letting people see how I’m different.” Sometimes our Christianity is like the new tires, some people will just not notice unless you tell them explicitly about it. You have to point out the new tires, or the lucky rocketship underpants, or your Christianity. Maybe other people can see that you’re different. Maybe they can see your joy. They can probably see your willingness to help others. But from watching you serve as Jesus served and being joyful in your Salvation, do they see “repentance”? Do they see “accepting Jesus”? Maybe you’re wearing a shirt with a scripture on it, but what if you’re simply wearing a Captain America t-shirt? Do they get Jesus from the Captain America t-shirt? No, they don’t.
Sometimes you just have to open your mouth and tell
them. We try to shirk the responsibility
of actually talking about Jesus by saying that we’re living it. Sometimes, Marcel Marceau, instead of miming
it out and playing “Jesus charades,” you need to be shouting it out like the
town crier. It’s like when you’re at the
zoo. Everyone is trying to find a
particular animal hidden in the trees.
At the Memphis Zoo, it’s almost always the Red Panda. But pick your own zoo, and your own “hard to
find animal” exhibit. You’ve spotted the
elusive little critter hiding in the branches, and others walk up to the
exhibit. Most see you looking up and in a
certain direction, and they look that way, too.
They look and they search, and they look back at you to see where you’re
looking again. But sometimes they simply
don’t actually see it until you open your mouth and say to them, “it’s right
there, just up from the funny-colored branch.”
Then they look again and see what you’ve been seeing all along.
It’s like keeping your eyes on the cross. “I’m walking through life…got my eyes on the
cross…following the narrow road…walking with Jesus…not getting distracted by
the devil…I’m keeping my focus on the cross” Which is all wonderful, of course. God bless you for it! But unless people know what you’re looking
at, then they’re still searching for a red panda hiding in the trees. They see you have your eyes focused on
something. They can see you’re walking a
determined, focused life. They can tell
you have a purpose in life. But what
purpose? What focus? “I can see this guy looking at something…he’s
living differently than other people I know…but what is he looking at…he keeps
his focus on something up there…but I’m just not seeing it…there has to be
something there…too many leaves in the trees to be able to see the red
panda…let me look at him again…yeah, he’s looking at something so let me see if
I can see it…nope, I have no idea what he’s looking at.”
Sometimes you have to just open your mouth and say, “I’m
following Jesus. I’m keeping my eyes on
the cross and living the new life that I’ve been called to live. I’ve repented of my sinful past, and now I
try to live for Him. Sometimes I’ll
trip, but I’ll always keep my eyes and my hope on the cross.” And after you’ve told them where the red
panda is, they can see exactly what you’re looking at.
Listen for the Whisper that sounds like the Kevin Sharp
song, “Nobody Knows It But Me.” Whether
it’s your lucky rocketship underpants, or new tires, or a red panda hiding high
in the branches…or Jesus Christ, sometimes if you want people to know, you’re just
going to have to tell them. We’re quick
to tell perfect strangers in a checkout line how much we hate a store. We’re quick to tell fans of an opposing team
how much we can’t stand their team, or how happy we are that they’re team lost,
or worse how happy we are that they’re miserable. We’re quick to lay on the horn and yell
insults at a stranger on the road. So
why are we so slow to share our most important message? When it comes to anger and hate and
discontent, we’re loud and proud and vocal.
Yet for some reason, when it comes to the most important words anyone
can ever hear, we say things like “I’ll just live it.” Don’t just live it, point it out. If your chest is puffed out while you’re
strutting around on top of the world, and nothing’s going to bring you down,
then tell people why that is! If you
truly are happier insulting others and being rude to someone you’ve never met
than sharing the Gospel with those people, I’d suggest a little time for
self-reflection. Take some time for
self-reflection and realize that it’s not yourself you need to be reflecting. In the old kid’s song “If you’re happy, and
you know it” the first thing you do is clap your hands, then you stomp your
feet…and at the end, you say “Amen”…because in the end, that’s the only real
way to explain the source of your joy.
So if you’re clapping your hands, and you’re stomping your feet – take a
minute to say the words “Amen”. Say the
words “Jesus loves you” to someone. When
you’re stuck in line, don’t just let people wonder why you’re smiling while
everyone else is griping. Tell them that
you’re happy because your soul is safe with Jesus. The frustration of standing in a long, slow
line is insignificant compared to the joy you find in Jesus. It better be, anyway. And if that’s the honest truth and how you’re
really feeling inside, why is it so hard to say?
~Dwayne
http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com
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