An Ambassador!

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Last night at our group study we had a really good conversation about how we as Christians represent God here on earth. It was a really interesting discussion. We all talked about how difficult it can be to walk that thin line between being "in-your-face" and annoying, versus being too withdrawn and "strange". It seems to me that there can be a good balance, the tought part is finding it.

I think about my neighbors- our physical neighbors. They all know that we go to church and are Christians, and I expect that they probably spend a lot of time studying us, seeing how we live our lives to see if we're strange or out there or...whatever. So what would it tell the nieghbors if one day we decided to throw a big party with lots of drinking and what-not. Or what would it tell the neighbors if I spent all my time lounging in the backyard myself doing nothing but yell at my kids... or even, what would it say to the neighbors if they overheard me talking bad about another neighbor, or complaining all the time. We need to remember that as Christ's Ambassadors, we are the world's example of Christ here on earth. We need to view our neighbors with love and also our own home and family with love. This love shows!

I used to find myself yelling a lot at my kids. I don't think much more than any other kids, but I would go upstairs and find them doing something they shouldn't have been doing and I would raise my voice and yell at them. This was something that I struggled with a lot as a young parent. It was easy to tell, to scold my children with a raised voice. Yet after a while, it occurred to me that the raised voice wasn't working- they still were misbehaving from time to time, and then...then I noticed that my daughter started yelling at her brother when he would do something wrong. At about the same time, I noticed more often the occasional noise from next door, and I really became ashamed of myself.

We live in a duplex, which means we have a shared wall with our neighbors. And I can't help but figure that if we can hear the occasional vacuum or washing machine from next door, that they can hear mom screaming like a banshee at her children. Andy has spent a good deal of time talking to this neighbor, being friendly and neighborly, and things like church have come up from time to time. What kind of an example was I being!! So I have been working on the yelling- a lot. And it is definitely making a big difference with my children, and I praise God for that. But I also hope that it's making a difference with the neighbors. I hope our good example stands, and that we can continue to do so.

Being under a miscroscope may not always be fun, but if having my life scrutinized by those around me means that they are more likely to want to get to know my Lord better, it's worth every ounce of scrutinization. I can only pray that God will continue to show me the areas I need to improve.