Words are important, but actions are telling

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Friday was my brother's birthday, Happy birthday Kim. 

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. Her name is Cricket (Not her real name, but every story goes better with a name attached). How did I come up with Cricket as a pseudonym? I am glad you asked. I googled fun names and Cricket came up on top, that's how. 

I have known Cricket for a long time and we have had many wonderful conversations. Cricket is a ragamuffin, she likes Jesus but has been negatively impacted by people that call themselves Christians. She grew up in the church, was hurt by the church, was looked down on by those in authority as less than because of her hurt and the fact that she had a hard time believing in a god that was unloving, judgmental, had favorites, was hypocritical...

Just recounting the conversation makes me sad. 

I told her I don't believe in a god like that either.

One of the classes I teach in the university is Worldviews, and the first thing I tell my students is, "Don't tell me what you believe, your actions will show me what you believe."

Brennan Manning wrote in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, "If you really want to understand a man, don’t just listen to what he says, but watch what he does."[1]

We are the hands and feet of Christ. We are His mouthpiece. What we say, and what we do either draw people closer to Him or push them away.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be that guy who pushes people away from God. Somebody wrote in a book somewhere that it would be better to have a millstone put around your neck and thrown into the sea than turn one of My children away from me.

Brother Lawrence once said, "Whether God regulates me to Heaven or to Hell, that is His business, I will not worry about that. I will focus on loving Him." 

God is the gatekeeper, not me.

How do I put actions to my belief? I am so glad you  asked. 

Kouzes & Posner said it best, "Here are some of the common phrases people use to describe how they know credibility when they see it:"

1.      “They practice what they preach.”

2.      “They walk the talk.”

3.      “Their actions are consistent with their words.”

4.      “They put their money where their mouth is.”

5.      They follow through on their promises.”

6.      They do what they say they will do.”[2]

I will work on doing this, because as Brennan once said:

"Perhaps the real dichotomy in the Christian community today is not between conservatives and liberals or creationists and evolutionists but between the awake and asleep.  The Christian ragamuffin acknowledges with Macbeth, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.”  Just as a smart man knows he is stupid, so the awake Christian knows that he/she is a ragamuffin."[1]

Don't worry Cricket, God loves you. I am a ragamuffin too.

Blessings,

Roger

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[1]Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, 2005), 71. 

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[1]Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, 2005), 72. 

[2]James Kouzes & Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge 4^th Edition, (San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2007), 40. 

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