AKA “Represent!”
Quick! What’s your favorite sin? ….. No, don’t tell me.
My favorite sin is #3, You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
When someone near me injures himself or whatever and says “Jesus Christ!” I respond with “I’m His local representative. How can he help you?” I didn’t have to think of a clever way to start a conversation with him about Jesus and the salvation available in Him because this someone just opened the door wide with this sin.
I’ll admit that, when I first used this at an offset printing plant where I was working during college, I intended to cut back on the regular misuse of God’s name around me. Instead, it brought discussion of what I meant by that, and eventually led to one of the co-workers coming to Christ. That person was not the target, but rather a collateral blessing of the response. I moved from wanting those around me not to misuse His name to welcoming that misuse because of the opportunities it presented.
At the base of this response is the position we have as representatives of Christ and the responsibility to live in a way that backs up the claim that we actually represent Him. As He dwells in us and we in Him, we get to see Him work through us to reach those around us.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore your on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Misusing God’s name is not the only conversation starter available to us. As we walk in all His ways it becomes almost natural for others to ask us “to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Peter 3:15. But there are other ways to get the opportunity to share this salvation with others. Here are a few.
For little old ladies with unbelievers in your family, you can use a family gathering, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, your birthday or anniversary. Chose your time, then ask your eldest to gather the family in the living room, because “I’ve been to the doctor, and I have something to say.” It is really amazing how fast the family gathers, and how quiet it gets. Tell them how you came to Christ, and how He has been with you through this and that. Make whatever applications you want. Then just stop. You will be asked about the doctor and what he said, and you can answer with “I go the doctor all the time. I’m fine.”
For people with a yard, you can get a “special” rock and put it somewhere prominent. Joshua 4:4-6 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you “What do these stones mean?’ tell them… This is a memorial stone of the grace of God in Christ Jesus and what he did to save me from the penalty of my sin. He did it for you, too.