About a month ago, I was sitting on the sidelines of my oldest son’s Little League game.
His team was losing and, in my frustration, I decided to take it out on the two umpires.
I stood up and yelled in my loudest disgruntled parent voice: “What a crew! We’ve got one who can’t see and one who can’t count!”
Needless to say, that wasn’t my proudest moment. In fact, a man I’ve been witnessing to has called me on it several times.
When I do things like that, I think: “I just made the devil smile.”
As Christians we need to always be on our guard and not lose sight of Who we represent.
Too often, I find myself representing me.
Too often, I find myself forgetting God and speaking for myself.
Luke 6:45 says:
“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.”
Christians are not immune to missteps. When we screw up (and we always screw up!) our failures are amplified because of who we claim to represent. For nonbelievers who see us do these things — and they do see us and hear us — it’s one more barrier blocking them from the saving arms of Jesus.
Our motives are not necessarily evil. Most of the time, it’s simply that dang humanity getting in the way. But, as marketers for Christ, we need to represent our brand in a more appropriate way.
People are watching us.