I grew up in a Christian home in Missouri, “The Show Me State.” 
Our family always took our faith seriously and some of my earliest memories involve going to church. I went to youth group in high school and was active in a campus ministry in college. Despite what I thought were all the “trappings” of a Christian lifestyle, I was stunned by a conversation that I had with a friend during my senior year. We talked a great deal about faith and I shared a little bit about my belief. At the end of our conversation, this friend of four years said to me, “Dave, I never knew you were a Christian.” I think about those words often. Do the people around me know what I really believe? Do I display my love for God in my day to day routine? I may come from “The Show Me State,” but I do not always show off my faith the way I should.
There is a popular story about a drunk named Joe who was once miraculously converted at a Bowery mission. Prior to his conversion, Joe had gained the reputation of being a dirty wino for whom there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But following his conversion to a new life with God, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission doing whatever needed to be done. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the vomit left by some violently sick alcoholic or scrubbing the toilets after careless men left the bathroom filthy Joe did what was asked with a soft smile on his face and with gratitude for the chance to help. He could be counted on to feed feeble men who wandered into the mission off the street, and to undress and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves. One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his regular evangelistic message to the usual crowd of still and sullen men with drooped heads there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar and knelt to pray, crying out for God to help him to change. This repentant drunk kept shouting, "Oh God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!" The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, "Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, 'Make me like Jesus!" The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, "Is HE like Joe?"
I think a lot of us struggle with the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” The answers, of course, are not always cut and dry. It is likely we have all had some people in our lives who have exhibited the love of Christ to us. It may be a grandparent who took the time to read the Bible with us. It might be a friend who sat at our bedside while we were sick. It may be a pastor who helped us find the God who had been pursuing us all along.
I believe God comes to us through other people. Think back on the times in your life where a warm smile or a kind word really put your heart at ease. Are you passing along this legacy of love? Are you quick to judge or quick to forgive? Do you hold grudges or hold hands in love? “You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves (James 1:19-22).” My prayer is we will all have the courage to show off our faith in this show me world.
In Hope and Confidence,
Pastor Dave
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