"Wearing the Fish"

 

 

 

 

 

"I really need to walk the walk,

so my walk and my talk are the same"

When I was in the Navy, one of the commands I was stationed at had a huge, full length mirror directly in front of the main entrance. This particular command was in Washington, so everything was at a high degree of "spit and polish". The sign over the mirror read as follows: "You are not in the Navy, you ARE the Navy". The message was simple. Before you left the command, you needed to make sure you were "squared away". When people saw you on the street, they did not see you - they saw the Navy. Just by being in uniform, you were in fact, an ambassador of the Navy. How you looked, and how you acted really mattered.

A few years ago at the church we were attending, a visiting pastor came to conduct a weekend training session. This pastor worked at a Christian radio station in town and many  listened to him daily. During one of his sessions, he asked how many people had the "Christian Fish" on their cars. Quite a few hands went up. He said, "When people see that symbol on your car, it says something. It says that you are different - different than the world. Not apart from the world, but different. When other drivers see your driving behavior match that symbol, it sends a powerful message. However, when other drivers see behavior
which does not match that symbol, a much different message is sent."

These words from the pastor really gave me pause to think. I am guilty as charged many times over. Just as there were times in the Navy I did not do my best representing the Navy, there are far more frequent times my behavior betrays my faith. One of our former pastors would always council us that "the world watches." The world is very interested in what makes people of faith "tick". They want to know if it is just a rhetoric game, or if there is something which allows people of faith to be different than the world.

My wife and I attended another weekend session at church where some pastors were brought in from different parts of the country. One young pastor was from Southern California. He had "gone out on the street" with video camera in hand and interviewed people at random. For the first group, this was the question asked - "What do you think of Jesus Christ?" The response was almost unanimous to the positive. Another random group was chosen and a slightly different question was asked - "What do you think of Christians?" The results were almost the opposite of the first question. The most common reason - hypocrisy.

The purpose of me writing this article this morning is not to preach to anyone - it is confess my shortcomings. I am a big part of the problem. I have fallen short many times on my faith walk and it not only hurts me, but also hurts the Kingdom. For that I am truly sorry. I have a "James 3" tongue which leads me astray more times than I can admit. I remain a broken vessel in many respects.

However with faith comes redemption, and today is another day. I will try to better than yesterday, and tomorrow do better than today. The evangelist Max Lucado has said, "Once saved, it is not enough to get into the life boat. It is expected that you will get back into the water and help save others". Thank you Max - very true words for me to remember. With God's help, I will do better tomorrow as well as today.