Witness

Sometimes after I meet you
In the coffee shop
Or in the store on isle five
And we exchange a few words,
I think of all I could have said
Or done as an upgrade 
To what I manage to stutter.
So this stage is reenacted
In my synapses for an hour
Or a day or more
And each time, it is refined.
So I wonder, "What if, what if...
If I had been less hazy and a better bright?"
He visits me when I'm sincere
And says, "Trust me,
My light as yours is bright enough."

Day 33

After having written this poem so many years ago when I was much younger in my faith, I can still feel the same way today. I want to be a perfect ambassador for Christ to the world. But I have moved from the anxiety of aspiration to the acceptance of inadequacy. Here’s what I mean: instead of worrying so much about saying and doing the right thing all the time, I now accept that I am not a perfect human, and I know I never will be on earth, but the light of Christ is perfect, and He shines through. He doesn’t shine through despite my inadequacies: He chooses to shine through my inadequacies. I surprise myself with my shortcomings more than I surprise Him (in fact I don’t surprise Him at all), and He knows the full effect of my words and actions, not I. I hope that means that we as believers will be pleasantly surprised one day to see the full effect of our lives in hindsight, and that He will smile and say, “I knew it all along. See?” Luke 2:11-12 says,

And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.

I am hardly being led before rulers for interrogation, I’m just meeting a stranger at the store! But I’m afraid of not saying enough, and if I do what I want, I feel like I’m going to be weird. There is a radio personality on a Christian station that has made fun of people who take every conversation and make it about Jesus. He calls it Jesus juking. I’m afraid of Jesus juking and making it too weird. But aren’t we supposed to make everything about our Lord? What in the Bible supports the criticism of “Jesus juking”?^* What my prayer is for you and for me is that we are living in the Spirit every day no matter what, so that when the opportunity comes to give reason for the hope living within us (1 Peter 3:15), we will be ready.

If you enjoyed this material, please leave a like or comment on my blog, share, and you can purchase my book, Learning to Love: A Collection of Poetry and 40 Daily Devotions, on Amazon. Until next time, God bless.

*Juke means to deceive an opponent. Making a conversation about Jesus is in no way deceiving someone but enlightening them. The enemy is the deceiver (Gen. 3:13; Rev. 12:9). Moreover, those we converse with are not our opponents. We war against spiritual evils, not people themselves (Eph. 6:12). Jesus died for all people (2 Cor. 5:14), and since He made peace with God for them by His blood (Col. 1:20), the gospel cannot be used as a tactic against them. Inasmuch as another person is an opponent, we should be unified in spirit and mind by the gospel so that we may not be frightened by them (Phil. 1:28). That’s defensive. As far as offensive goes, we should be kind, patient, and gentle (2 Tim. 2:24-25). Also, we should demonstrate good works, integrity, dignity, and sound speech (Tit. 2:7-8). All of this is to point to the gospel. We cannot do any of that without Jesus. I understand the radio host was trying to be playful, but the more I think about it, the more I realize how unbiblical his understanding is.