I sat in the stands watching my son’s first football game of his senior year. He started off well, but slowly I noticed he was slamming into people hard and not wrapping them up. In fact people from the stands started yelling “wrap them up” when a player broke through the line.

I figured it was first game jitters and prepared my “dad speech” for after the game. He came off the field after the loss and I gave him the usual hug. Then I told him that he needed to tackle better. He said, “It was hard to tackle when I can hardly feel my left arm.” He turned over his arm and it was obviously swollen and red from his wrist about half way up his arm. He told me that he had been stepped on early in the game and his arm was killing him.

In that moment I felt about an inch tall. I had rushed to judgement about my own son. I saw a boy who was not prepared enough and was not completely fulfilling his job. In reality, he was gutting out the pain and trying to do his best while wanting to quit. Quickly my perspective changed about him and the way he played the whole game.

I have been reflecting about this incident over the last few weeks. I have come to the simple understanding that most things we see in life are not as they initially appear. I believe this is especially true in a sound bite culture of social media. A person writes one thing and it gets taken the wrong way. A person can be seen doing something and it is perceived in a negative way. Someone from the outside shares their opinion on what they saw and the story gets repeated. Many times the truth is far from what everyone thinks they know.

One job of a Christian is to not rush to judgement. We are to give people the benefit of the doubt. We are to function under the assumption that there is more to the story that we will never know. A Christian believes the best in other people.

How many times have you wanted to shout out to a group of people, “This is not what it looks like!” Maybe you have wanted to write to the editor and say, “Here is what really happened.” Quite possibly you still bear the scars of being misunderstood by a group who only had half the story. We have those feelings and yet we rarely cut other people the slack we think we deserve.

So today, what if you believed the best in someone? What if you accepted the fact that you don’t know what really happened? What if you encouraged instead of criticized? What if allowed people the grace we all so desperately need?

I spend my life ministering to people in the name of Jesus. Much of what I do is producing programs to further the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Lately I have had a couple of people stop by the Church and pitch their ministry ideas to me. Each one of these ideas the people thought were great and they should have my support because they were doing it … in the name of Jesus. Let me tell you a few things I have learned about these programs and ministries.

1. People can teach bad theology in the name of Jesus. One of the biggest threats to faith is false teaching. Just because someone quotes a Bible verse, calls their teaching Christian or says they are doing it in the name of Jesus does not make it true.

2. People can further their own agenda in the name of Jesus. Politicians get religious during an election year because it furthers their own agenda. I have even experienced people who divided a Church because they felt like they were serving in the name of Jesus.

3. People can get rich in the name of Jesus. This was true even in the beginning of the Church. Sadly, it is still true today. I am not just talking about televangelist. I am getting sick of organizations who want to help grow my faith or my Church for a fee.

4. There are some bad ideas even when they are done in the name of Jesus. I once had a friend who was told he should start a puppet ministry out of the back of his van. He didn’t, because it was a bad idea. Even if he put Jesus name on the side of his van it still would have been creepy.

5. I can do things God has not called me to do because it is done in the name of Jesus. I believe that each Christian needs challenged to do whatever the Lord needs us to do. But I also believe that each of us have gifts and talents God has given us at which we can excel. Sometimes we need to say, “No” to some ministry opportunities because they don’t match my giftedness. For example, I once had a lady approach me about hosting a daily Christian music radio show. She wanted me to give her 3 hours a day to play music on the local Christian radio program 5 days a week. I politely told her no. I believe God called me to preach and teach and I would lose 15 hours a week from using my giftedness to do something I do not believe God has called me to do.

I don’t get involved in every activity in which I am asked to participate. I do not allow the Church I lead to get involved in every activity that happens in my area. That sounds awful because they are being done in the name of Jesus. I do not believe that means you or I have to participate.

That type of thinking has set me free to say no to some things in order to use my time more wisely. Also, I no longer feel guilty for turning down some opportunities that present themselves to me. It’s okay to turn down some things done in the name of Jesus to have an even greater impact.

When I was in High school my home Church had a preacher named Ron DeLong come and preach one Sunday. I really know nothing about the rest of his story. I don’t know where he came from or any of his background. I don’t remember how many weeks he preached for our Church or why. I believe we were between ministers and he was a retired preacher. Honestly, I do not remember a word of any of his sermons.

But I remember him and what he said by way of introduction. He walked to the front of the Church pews and started talking from there. Every preacher I had ever seen preached from a big wooden pulpit up on the stage. He walked to the front of the Church and he opened his Bible where he had only one little note clipped inside of it to help him. As an introduction he told us his name and then he said something to the effect of, “I don’t like to preach up there at the pulpit. I like to preach down here among the people. This (he held up his Bible) is a word from God for his people.” From there he launched into his sermon.

I wish I could remember all that he said. I really wish I could remember any of it. What I remember was being held spellbound for 30 minutes by a guy who could preach without a pulpit and extended notes. In those moments a seed was born that made me the preacher I am today.

I type my sermon out in long form each week. I do that so that I have completely thought everything through and so I will have it for future reference. I then take those long form notes with me to a music stand just in case I need them. Last Sunday I needed them once. Then I preach down on the floor among the people because God’s word is for his people.

I tell you this story for several reasons:

1. I want you to know a little bit more about me.
2. You never know when God is going to touch your soul and affect your life.
3. Words and actions are intimately linked. Both hold the power of influence
4. Do you remember all the little moments your life was altered by God in some way?
5. What will people remember about you?

The sad truth is that even great sermons will be forgotten. But that point where God touches the life of another person through you will never be lost.