Let's take a quick look into my journal.
As I was getting ready for a presentation, one of my classmates told me: "I didn't know you were a Christian until you start sending your articles to the group." I told her I was, and thanked her for reading my articles. To which she replied, "I am a Christian as well and I like writing too, but I just never put time and effort into it." I told her she should do it if she likes it, and we spoke about Odyssey among other things. I told her she doesn't have to start by publishing, she can start by sharing with family and friends and take it from there.
All of a sudden Pastor Michael Todd came to mind because he always talks about Re.Present. Often time our jobs have high demands on how to represent them. For instance, I have a friend who works at a hotel and her nails have to be done at all time whether she has the funds or not because having her nails done is part of representing the hotel well. Makeup stores usually have the same policies. Have you ever walked into a makeup store and seen the employees with no makeup on? I have been to plenty of makeup stores, and I have never seen even one worker barefaced; this is part of representing the makeup store. Among other industries, retail stores usually emphasize customer service, because the way the employees assist the customers has a direct effect on the company. This is why employers usually hire people that seem to be able to represent them well. Similarly, we have to represent our families well. I was speaking to a friend of mine not too long ago and one of the siblings was not behaving the way that the family expected them to, and the dad said, "If you are going to behave like that, do not use my last name." I believe he said that not because of lack of love for his child, but because he wants his last name to be represented a certain way. On the other hand, whether your children use your last name or not they are still your children. There are so many things that we tend to try our best to represent and we forget our primary identity.
Christians,
What about the Kingdom? How do you represent the kingdom? Can people see the King in you? Are we being good ambassadors of the kingdom? Are we treating the customers (the world and other Christians) well?
A lot of us do a poor job in representing God. Look at these guidelines to help you represent Christ better.
1. Read the Word, so you can live by the Word and for the Word.
2. Love others.
3. Help those around you without expecting anything in return.
4. Don't judge those who don't know the Word, because that will only lead to hate.
5. Rebuke other believers.
6. Being an ambassador of Christ is a full time job, so be one everywhere you go (school, work, church, vacation, etc.)
7. Live in such a way that even non-believers can see the light of Christ shining through you.
8. Share your testimony.
9. Don't be afraid to share the word of God anywhere.
10. Do not do the things of the world.
I hope these few steps help you into representing God better. Just remember that what/who you represent at first sight says a lot about you.
Xoxo,
DD
