So recently I was in a nice restaurant and needed the rest room to do the male version of powder my nose. Check the moustache and beard for any out of place hairs and review the overall shape and density of the beard. (It’s a joke! Not all men have beards, some just have moustaches!)
As I walked into the gentleman’s beard inspection area I discovered it was a compact facility and a few things happened. The urinal had a sensor that picked up the fact I was there and triggered it to flush. As that happened my left arm set off the hand dryer, which had a sensor whilst at the same time my right arm set off the soap and water dispenser, this too operated automatically via a sensor. So there I am checking the beard with the toilet flushing, hand dryer going full whack and soap and water being dispensed down the plughole. The beard looked fine by the way.
Here’s the point, I have to be honest that I had bought into a line of thinking that went something like this: ‘Be a Christian, just live right and keep your heart right and people around you will see Jesus in the way you live.’ This is a bit like my washroom experience recently, I went in and it all just happened and I didn’t really need to do a lot at all.
I think to a degree this is true, we can keep our hearts right and we can live lives that really do show Jesus in how we act, react and orientate our lives. But, is there more?
The type of Christian man I want to be is the one who default talks about God and has some kingdom language for every moment in life, not just watching and hoping people around me notice a difference.
Let me explain, a mate of mine has been ill and he talked about it, was troubled by it and shared it all with me. I just listened then thought about what I was having for tea.
He then amazed me, he asked me to pray for him, man it really put me on the spot. This bloke has never talked about God with me before, and it came out of nowhere and felt a little awkward. I prayed and am praying for him, but it made me think ‘why didn’t that occur to me?’
Well there might be lots of answers for that but one I tend to agree with is that I have got accustomed to the washroom model, and have lost that active ingredient that I can bring!
I can think ‘prayer’ when my mate talks about being ill, I can think ‘Jesus’ when my mate is searching and lost, I can think ‘Holy Spirit’ when guys around me are looking for answers. We have the Good News, the truth! Lets not just hope people see the difference lets get active in looking for the moments and taking bold kingdom steps to win a generation of men to Jesus in our time!
