Show and Tell

Do you remember many years ago, you were probably in kindergarten, and the teacher asked you to bring your favorite toy to school? I do! I don’t remember what toy I brought but I always looked forward to “Show and Tell” day.  I got to bring my favorite toy with me and keep it with me all day.  The hard part for me was the “getting in front of people and telling them about it” but I’m sure the process was to help us with descriptive words and public speaking at the grand ol’ age of five…I didn’t care for that part, I just got to have my toy with me.  I got to show everyone something that I held dear and tell them why it was special and describe my toy in great detail and tell what precious memories that toy held for me.

Fast forward several years to now.  Now we walk around in this world, a world that we are called to “not to be conformed to” (Romans 12:2), and carry around with us this very special gift. A gift that we are actually called to share with others around us, that is the gift of the good news. The news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and the forgiveness and hope that it offers and brings to all those who believe in Him.

Some recent events in my family’s life has got me to thinking about how many of us actually LIVE OUT LOUD this gift of Christ?  How many of us actually LIVE OUT what Christ is doing in our lives?  I think too many of us know who God is, quite possibly we have read the Bible from cover to cover and know a lot about who God is, we know the facts, the basics, the truth. But in knowing the truth, do we actually allow it to permeate into our hearts and into our lives?  Do we allow God to actually work IN us and THROUGH us?  Are we “showing and telling” others about Christ in our everyday lives?  Are our lives a visible example of Christ?

I once heard a quote that fits well with what I am trying to say here, “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words”. -St. Francis of Assisi.

Are we so in touch with God that we allow Him to touch us, or are we just containers of the facts and still living in our own sinful ways but think that we are ok because we know ABOUT God?

Let me see if I can further explain what I am talking about. I don’t watch a lot of tv, but I have a few shows that I like to sit and watch from time to time.  I can tell you a lot about the characters on the show.  I have watched it from the first episode of season one to season six (Thank you Netflix).  I can go into great detail about how the characters act, what they wear, and even what they might do in a certain situtaion….but I don’t know them.  I haven’t sat down and spent hours talking with them.  I haven’t allowed them into my life or me into theirs. I know about them, but I don’t know them.

In order to know someone is to allow them to touch your life.  When you know someone, you hurt when they hurt, you laugh when they laugh, you know their ups and their downs, you know them because they are a part of you.  They have an effect on you and you on them, that’s because you have a relationship with them.

So how do we move from knowing about God to actually having a relationship WITH God?  I grew up in strong Christian household.  My dad was a preacher and a Bible teacher at the local Christian school that I attended. We had Bible study every night before bed. We prayed at every meal. We talked about God. We were at the church if the doors were open.  I knew so much that I chose to be baptized at age 10.  I knew a lot about God, but I didn’t have a relationship with God. I didn’t base my life decisions on what God’s will was. Yes, I tried to do what was right and I prayed my little prayers, but it wasn’t until about 5 years ago when my world turned upside down that I really started to get to know God on a personal level. At that time I had a lot of work to do in my life.  I actually had to allow this God that I grew up learning about into my life and let Him take a wrecking ball to my heart and life until I learned to trust in Him completely and have control.

During that time, I was lost but the God I grew up learning about was the God that reached down and pulled me up out of my dark pit.  Because of that dark period in my life I got to know God, who He is, what He is like, and I fell in love with Him and I have a relationship with Him. I pray that my life now is a constant example of all that He has done for me and continues to do for me. I hope that I LIVE OUT LOUD the relationship that I have with God. I hope that I ooze God from my pores and that when others see me, they see God.

Don’t get me wrong, I am far from perfect. I fail Him daily and I still have a lot of work to do.  But my hope for me and for you is that we are constantly having a “Show and Tell” day where we show and tell others about God and what He is doing in our lives, but not just that, I pray our actions reflect the God that we love and serve.

James 1:22 says, “Be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves.” LIVE OUT LOUD the message of Christ. LIVE OUT LOUD the relationship you have with God. Let others see God through the gospel you preach…and when necessary, use words.