Being a Good Representative
Would you look at your life and say that you are a good representative for the love and grace of Jesus?
Verse of the Day
‘And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.’
Today’s Devotional
I saw a news story this week about a woman in New York that called the police because a man asked her to put a leash on her dog. She was in a park that requires dogs to be on a leash, and the dog was pretty unruly. When the man, who was a different race than the woman, asked her to leash her dog, she lost her cool. He had the whole thing on video (once it started escalating). She was behaving very irrationally, both to this man and to her dog. I saw the video, and she lost her cool and completely overreacted. The news reported that once this video was released, the woman lost her job. But, why? She was not at work, and the incident had nothing to do with her job. But the company said something to the effect of, “She is not a good representative of our company.”
Which leads me to ask, am I a good representative for Jesus? Do I make people want to know more about my God, or do my words and actions want them to have nothing to do with my God?
I need to be honest. It’s the “everything” part of this verse that’s hard. Because sometimes I can be a great representative for Jesus. But other times…not so much. Like when I’m frustrated and I just need to complain. (Do everything without grumbling or complaining – Philippians 4:6) Or when I react negatively to someone else’s bad behavior. (I refer you back to Colossians 3:12- tenderhearted mercy, gentleness, kindness, humility, patience.) So how can I consistently be a good representative for Jesus in everything I do?
I’m going to go back to verse 15 of Colossians 3, which we did not cover. It reads, “Let the peace of Christ, to which you were called in one body, rule your hearts.” Here’s what studylight.org says about this verse, which I think will help us with today’s topic. “Then Paul uses a vivid picture. “Let the peace of God be the decider of all things within your heart.” Literally what he says is, “Let the peace of God be the umpire in your heart.” He uses a verb from the athletic arena; it is the word that is used of the umpire who settled things in any matter of dispute. If the peace of Jesus Christ is the umpire in any man’s heart, then, when feelings clash and we are pulled in two directions at the same time, the decision of Christ will keep us in the way of love and the Church will remain the one body it is meant to be. The way to right action is to appoint Jesus Christ as the arbiter between the conflicting emotions in our hearts; and if we accept his decisions, we cannot go wrong.”
So I need to be aware of my conflicting emotions and desires. I need to put those to the “Jesus-test”, hopefully BEFORE I act or speak. Then I need to choose the words and actions that align with the message of Jesus. This is not an easy thing to remember to do in the moment. Can I get an “Amen”? So maybe I need to be starting my day by asking for God to guide my thoughts, words, actions and desires before I ever interact with anyone. Then maybe I have a better chance of being a good representative of Jesus all throughout the day.
Notice that the last phrase of this verse calls us, as representatives of Jesus, to be giving thanks. Perhaps as I filter my conflicting emotions and desires through the lens of Jesus as my umpire, it will lead me to be more grateful in all circumstances. Perhaps being a person of gratitude is one of the ways we can be good representatives for Jesus.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How can you allow Jesus to be the umpire to your conflicting emotions and desires?
How did you feel when you’ve had times of being a less-than-stellar representative of Jesus? How can you be a good representative of the Gospel today?
What are you grateful for today?