Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. Matthew 10:40 NLT
He was a great guy in so many ways, but he had a problem he refused to see as a problem. He was so competitive that in any sporting event he would go all out, then lose his cool and composure to varying degrees both in group or individual competition. Everyone was fair game – opposing players, referees and officials, fans in the stands or bleachers. He would variously loudly accuse refs of wrong calls, jeer at fans when he did something well, complain to and blame teammates and coaches. It was not at all unusual for him to push and shove in a game, even getting into arguments and altercations in parking lots. Because he was known for his claim to be a Jesus follower, I spoke to him about his temper and behavior one evening. I asked him what he was thinking and thought others felt about his earlier explosion. He laughed and shrugged, “Hey, I didn’t hurt anyone and I’m not trying to win friends. I’m trying to win the game. It’s no skin off my nose what ‘they,’ whoever ‘they’ are, think.”
Unfortunately my friend’s perspective is shared in one way or another by many who identify as Christians, but who have missed the point of why Jesus has left us here and hasn’t taken us to heaven already. We are here to represent Jesus. We may think that our behavior, our words, our attitudes, our compassion or lack of it is just our business. We don’t care whether people accept us or not – our lives are our business, and we aren’t going to waste any time worrying about what others think.
While it is very true that we can’t be driven by what other people think of us, we MUST be aware that Jesus Himself said that people accepting or rejecting US is central to their acceptance of Him, which leads to salvation and life. We need to be as certain as we can that our behavior and attitudes are those that lead to a positive impression of Jesus and His followers. How we love and live really matters.
That means that if we want the world to be more loving and compassionate, we must be. If we believe that the world needs Jesus, then we must be more like Jesus. We must be the change we want to see in the world. As we become more like Him, living and loving like Him, we are bringing Jesus to the world.
We really matter. It may seem that what people think is “no skin off my nose,” but the truth is, they need us to be “Jesus with skin on.”
- Jesus, as people interact with me, help me be the reason to believe that God is good and God is love.