Salt & Light

Tara, Noah, and I were playing pickleball the other day at the park in McKenzie. The weather was wonderful for the first weekend in August, especially after a hot July. We had played for a bit when another group showed up to play. I did not think a whole lot about it; I was pretty focused on trying to beat Noah. After a bit of time, a gentleman came over and asked us some questions about how to play. We tried to explain the rules to the best of our knowledge, but we are just learning ourselves. He thanked us for our time and introduced himself. He lives here in Huntingdon, and we said we did also. After he told us what he did, I volunteered that I was the preacher at the church of Christ. He said that someone in their group had said that. We finished playing pickleball and left. As far as I know, I did not know any of those people personally (maybe I did and just did not recognize them). Someone recognized me, and the recognition was about my Christianity. I commented to my family in the car that you never know who is watching. You always need to be a Christian if you claim to be one.

I hope the lesson for all of us is very plain. Are you acting like you follow Jesus wherever you go? What if I had acted a fool on the court? To my shame, I have done that in sports. What message would that have sent about Jesus? My girls work at restaurants here in town. What if I go in or call and I am mean, short, or unpleasant? What message does that send when the waitress sees me sitting across the church building on Sunday morning? The list of these questions could go on and on, but I hope you get the point. Jesus calls us to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16). If the only thing someone knew about Jesus was seeing your life, what would they think about Jesus?