Chapter 3: Whether you like it or not

In Chapter 1 I asked what it means to you to own the identity ‘Christian.’ Have you thought about it? Is that a label—a definition—you own for yourself? What, exactly, does that mean to you? Is it more than a way you vote? Is it more than a place you go on Sundays (or a service you tune into online)? Is it more than a social nicety that gives you access to a particular group of people? I hope so. Because in the eyes of other people, it’s way more than that. 

Here’s the thing that we rarely live aware of: If we’ve ever walked into a church, posted a nice little verse or reshared a Christian saying online, talked about faith, referenced the Bible, or had a Christian Pastor officiate our wedding… If we’ve done any of those things or a host of others, in the eyes of other people, we’re what followers of Jesus look like. We are representatives of Jesus. Whether you like it or not. 

We live in a world where we’re told not to care what other people think. And we shouldn’t, to a point. Like any good truism, it’s overstated and really needs some nuance. Not caring what people think is a helpful way to live until it runs into our character. I don’t care if people think I’m silly or a little too into running or cycling or even if they think I look funny when I ride down the street with my cycling kit on. You shouldn’t care if people don’t like the color of your hair or your style of clothes. 

As soon as it crosses into the realm of character this changes. I care if people think I’m a liar. I care if people think I’m mean or unloving in any way. I care if people think I don’t teach the truth from the Bible. When we cross into character issues everything changes and this is Biblical. In chapter 4 of 1st Thessalonians Paul is encouraging the people of Thessalonica to be aware of their character and holiness. He starts by saying, “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more” (‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬). He goes on to name a number of things to steer clear of including sexual sin or cheating and harming others. Then, he closes this encouragement with these words, “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others” (‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4:11-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬). You can find these appeals throughout the New Testament, appeals to consider what others will think of you. What others think of you matters because what others think of you reflects on Jesus. 

Reputation Matters 

When I was 5 years old my parents sold the cows. My dad had taken over the dairy farm when he was 17 after his dad passed away from cancer. He had been a dairy farmer his whole life, so selling the cows wasn’t a small decision. But the hours were constant and the financial choice was clear: either scale up or get out of the dairy business. We got out of dairy, but our family didn’t quit farming. That spring we planted something that became synonymous with our family name for the following 26 years: Strawberries. 

A quick note on strawberries: the delicious fruit produces huge quantities per acre. They cannot be picked (at least not well) by a machine. They require a great deal of manual labor (planting, picking the blossoms the first year to promote plant growth, weeding, and harvesting are all difficult manual projects). There’s also the risk of frost. May and June in Wisconsin are characterized by plenty of temperature fluctuations and a single bad frost can ruin an entire crop (you protect against frost by watering the plants—the process of freezing gives off heat, which saves the blossoms from freezing). Add to all of this the planning, organizing, and managing required to host a few thousand people in a 2-week season getting people into and out of the patch to pick and purchase their strawberries and you can start to see the scope of the production.  

I could write books about what I learned in the strawberry patch, but one thing, in particular, is helpful for us: reputation matters. When you’re hosting thousands of people at your farm to pick berries and hopefully have a great experience and want to come back to pick more, you can only control so many things. The quality of the berries is very dependent on the weather. Having a clean field and healthy soil contributes to their quality, but no matter how much you worry, you simply cannot control the weather. Sometimes there is too much rain; sometimes not enough. 

Here’s what you can do: You can provide excellent customer service. You can make it so the customer doesn’t carry a box of berries (because we hired people to do that for the pickers). You can greet people with a smile and often remember their names as you write them on their box. You can give people a joyful tractor and wagon ride. You can charge a reasonable price. You can give people permission to eat as many berries as they want while picking (we used to tell people, you’ll never eat us out of business). You can also give away berries for free to way more people than anyone will know (I remember my parents saying, “You can never give away too many berries”). You can’t always ensure great quality berries. You can ensure people are treated well and surprised by how you delight them. 

I grew up proud of the reputation our family produce farm had. Not only was it something I was proud to share with others, but it was also something I was personally aware of. I never had to be told, I was intrinsically aware that how I conducted myself in the patch, at school, and out in the community reflected on my family. It wasn’t a burden, it was an honor. 

When Paul, Peter, James, or John write their letters in the New Testament they call on followers of Jesus to lead lives worthy of their calling. They make it clear that how they live their lives is how they represent Jesus to their communities. It’s not to burden us with more responsibility, it’s to make us aware of the honor and privilege we carry by being part of God’s family. And no matter where you’re at in the process of following Jesus, you have access to this privilege and honor.

The perfect God who sees imperfection as an opportunity.

I host a podcast for our church. It’s called Unscripted and the purpose of it is to inspire better conversations and to help people think more deeply and critically about faith, life, and leadership (We’ve since changed the name to The Represent Jesus Well Podcast). Occasionally we’ll have people on the podcast that aren’t from this little corner of Wisconsin, but mostly it’s local. I interview friends or acquaintances who I think have compelling stories or interesting takes on any of those three topics. Recently I invited a friend named Shawn onto the podcast to tell his story. He’s a recovering alcoholic and when we sat down to have coffee to talk through his story I knew we needed to record it. Quickly after being released it’s become our most viewed/listened to podcast. 

Here’s the ironic thing: in the time between when Shawn and I had coffee and when we recorded the podcast he felt like he had to warn me. Shawn had been on the front page of the local newspaper for some not-fun reasons. The SWAT team had been called to his house because of a whole series of reasons and misunderstandings, but ultimately because he was not in a good place and had access to a gun. He shared this with me because he wanted to be sure I knew what might come up when we shared this podcast. 

He wrote me this email: 

“This is what I am talking about (referring to the link in the email). I am not ashamed of it. It was a very dark time in my life and I’ve made amends for it. I’m not this lost broken person anymore. I just want you to be aware of it, because I wouldn’t want someone to ask you why you would highlight a person like me and you be surprised. If you see this and go yeah no pull the break, I completely understand. Okay? Really I mean that. I played a part in this and I own it. It’s a lot. Thank God I don’t live in that place anymore.”

Shawn is one of the many people who are part of our church that represents Jesus so incredibly well to me. Let me tell you why Shawn represents Jesus well. Jesus is not looking for us to represent him with some mustered-up perfection. Jesus wants us to represent him with the work he’s done and continues to do in us. Jesus continues to do great things through Shawn’s broken and beautiful life. Know what else? It’s through Shawn telling his story and being open and honest and raw about his life that I’ve been inspired to more thoroughly represent Jesus through the work God has done in and through my flaws. 

Representing Jesus well doesn’t mean living a morally perfect life, getting everything right, or making sure people see you behaving. We often get it wrong. Even when we get it wrong, God offers opportunity after opportunity to represent Jesus well in the way we navigate our mistakes.

It’s an honor to be called a Christian. I own that title and maybe you do too. We are called to live a life in light of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in us. It doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes. In the podcast, Shawn said, “I’m not who I was and I don’t want to be that person again.” God is full of forgiveness and mercy. As Brennan Manning writes in his book Ragamuffin Gospel, “Quite simply, our deep gratitude to Jesus Christ is manifested neither in being chaste, honest, sober, and respectable, nor in churchgoing, Bible-toting, and Psalm-singing, but in our deep and delicate respect for one another.” Whether we like it or not we represent Jesus. Let’s do it well—not through perfection—through honoring the call and humbly acknowledging our desperate need for Jesus to continue his work, work that’s done together. Delicate and deep respect acknowledges the roads we’ve all taken to get to where we are. Some of us have had a pretty light go at it. Most of us have had plenty of bumps and acquired our fair share of bruises and broken bones. Displaying our gratitude is only really accomplished through our regular practice of offering that deep and delicate respect. However disiplined we find ourselves being in terms of purity and uprightness means virtually nothing if we live without the humility Jesus’ life demands of us. 

Which brings us to the temple…  

Two men walk into a temple (this is not a joke) 

Jesus tells the story best. Sometimes, when I’m reading the accounts of Jesus in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) I get the feeling that some of the concepts and principles are just too nuanced and gray for Jesus to simply give a quick, “this is just the way it is” response. It’s one of the reasons Jesus’ stories are so powerful. It’s almost as if, when Jesus tells a story he’s painting a picture for us in our minds, then pointing at that picture and saying, “It’s like that.” One example of this stands out for me. Take a look: 

“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:10-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I don’t quite remember where I heard it, but it resonated. I remember hearing someone say that we don’t ever really know how far a person has traveled on the road to experiencing the grace of God. Someone who may strike us as a person with very little character or kindness may have already traveled much farther toward Jesus than we have. If you’ve ever taken the time to hear someone’s story, you’ve likely found yourself having had the experience of respecting that person much more than you did before simply because you’ve become far more aware of their story. Most of the time, we walk around unaware of (or ignoring) the fact that everyone has a story hidden under the surface that would cause us to pause before dishing out judgment or treating that person without any sensitivity. 

I wonder how often we’re the Pharisee treating the tax collector with contempt when it’s the tax collector who has really experienced the grace of Jesus.   

Whether you like it or not, if you believe in Jesus, you represent him. The point is not to get all the answers right on the test. The point is to throw yourself upon the mercy and grace of God allowing it to both humble you and form you. We’ll grow more Christ-like, but we’ll never arrive in this lifetime. We’ll never outgrow our need to be like that tax collector, humbled before our Father’s awesome love and kindness. It’s from that place that we can begin to represent Jesus well.