What AM I supposed to look like??

I can get very confused about what I am supposed to look like.  While it’s easy to say I’m not supposed to look like the world (“Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind…” Romans 12:2), that I am supposed to look different and set apart, it is confusing to know where that line lies that sets me too far apart from the world, the line where I am not able to minister as I should.   If I am considered a “weirdo” (hush!) then I won’t be able to lead others or point them to the Way.  Where do I draw this invisible line of “setting myself apart?  ”Too ‘much’ world leaves me ineffective, but, yet, so does too ‘little’! 

There is certainly no doubt that this invisible line cannot, MUST not, be drawn and colored with sin.  Oh, I will sin, that is promised, but deliberate, intentional, habitual sin is not what a Christian is to look like.  If you look at me and see blaring sin, I am failing terribly in my attempts to be Christ-like.  He, of course, was sinless and if I am striving to look like Him, you will not notice my sin at first glance.  The two simply do not go hand-in-hand.

Another thing I would not want jumping out when you first look at me is my occupation.  I am in this world to do one thing and that is to point you toward the world beyond it.  Unless my chosen occupation is being a full time minister, if you meet me and see only my occupation, I am not doing a very good job of looking different.  The one person who has probably been the greatest example to me of this was Jesse Pinckley.  When I first met Mr. Pinckley, he was not only my college roommate’s dad, but the Mayor….the MAYOR…of Huntingdon, TN.  I had never so much as met a mayor of any city or town, much less spent the night in their home!  But if you knew Jesse Pinckley, you knew that being the Mayor was not at the top of his priority list.  He was a great dad, friend, husband, business partner, employee, but, more than that, he was one of the most loving Christians I have ever met on this earth.  Love oozed out of him, kindness was written on his face, and his giving spirit continued throughout his entire life and even after his death. 

I can get so caught up in family…they are “bone-of-my-bone” and “flesh-of-my-flesh”…but you should not see only my family when you look at me.  I must be recognized as being more that “Monica’s mom” or “Mark’s wife” or “Helen’s daughter”.  I also need not get so caught up in friends or hobbies or sports that one of those ends up being what I am known for.

You must see Christ in me first.  It has been said, “Whatever you worship will become your god.”  While we are quick to agree with this statement when it is a sin overtaking someone, we sometimes don’t see it as easily when we are worshipping our occupation, family, hobbies, sports, or anything else that stands between ourselves and God.  Colossians 3:2-2 states, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”   From this the conclusion is drawn that if I am in Christ, looking like Christ, acting Christ-like, hidden in Christ, that I will also be hidden in God.  And we all know what God looks like.  Not that we have seen Him with our eyes, but if we make a habit of seeking Him, we have seen Him with our hearts.  Our Christ-like hearts recognize God immediately.  1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 

That is my total and complete answer to the question, “what am I supposed to look like?” I am supposed to look like LOVE. You should immediately see it when you meet me, think of it when you think of me, and want it when you see me wearing it.  It is so simple, yet, even if I am able to squeeze into it, I cannot always wear it all day long.  It can be so fleeting that I am not even aware when it has been replaced.  Yet I continue to strive to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding” (I Cor. 15:58) in God, I know that I must watch to make sure that when it leaves I quickly put it back on (“Above all things clothe yourself with LOVE which binds us in perfect harmony.” Col. 3:14 ).   As I set goals for the coming year, first and foremost, is the goal of looking like love…clothing myself with it and wearing it until it is so comfortable, that I am uncomfortable when I take it off!

Roberta Pledge

12/27/11