What Do People Say When They See You

The greatest single cause of Atheism in the world today, is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with there lips, and walk out the door and deny Him by there lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. – DC Talk, What If I Stumble

How do you act when you are on the field or on the court? Who is really watching anyway? I ask these questions to make you think about something, and that is that our actions and lifestyles are seen and scrutinized by so many more people then we know about. I want to tell you a story about the effect of someone’s actions. This is a true story that a pastor told me in a Sunday chapel service last year when I was playing for the State College Spikes.

This pastor was a chaplain for a local college basketball team. At the beginning of one of the years he went in and talked to the head coach and asked him about his faith and what he thought about things of a faith nature. His response was, “Is Allen (made up name for the player) a Christian?” The pastor said yes he claims Christ as his Savior. The coach said if Allen is a follower of Jesus Christ I want nothing to do with being a Christian. You see Allen was not leading a life or playing with God in mind. He had a foul mouth, he played dirty on the court, he would cheat, and he partied hard off the court doing things as Christians we are not suppose to be involved with. This answer form the coach bugged the pastor so he went and talked with Allen. Allen’s goal for the year was to be more Christ like in his living. He started to live a life more pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Through his actions God used him. On graduation day as Allen was getting his degree the coach was receiving a much bigger reward. He said I have seen the way Jesus has changed Allen and I want Christ to change me. That day he trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
You can’t under estimate the effect of your actions. The effect can be bad or good. People see you and we are called to be the salt and the light of the earth.

When you throw your bat when you strike out, throw an elbow when the ref isn’t looking, or drop a swear word when things don’t go your way, people see that and you have a check against you and your witnessing credibility is hurt. Even more they are probably saying to themselves, why do I want to be a Christian, they are no different then me. Now when you stay calm when a bad call is made, when you keep from swearing, or when you help an opponent up if they fall. Those are things that people will look and think, why would he do that? We do that because we know what really matters and that is to love like Christ loved.

Luke 6:43-45 No good tree bears bad fruit, nor dose a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Act in love, act in discipline, act in obedience, and act in the name of Jesus spreading his name to all that you come across. The saying goes, actions speak louder then words. I feel that without actions words will mean nothing. But with actions, those words you speak will change people’s lives.

(Written by Matt Lane)

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