The older man had a sign that he was carrying around. He had another one taped to the outside of the small suitcase he was pulling behind him. Later in the parking lot, I saw his car. It had the same sign hanging in both back windows of his vehicle – one man with four different signs and all with the same message. 

“Treat Everyone Like Jesus.”

I do not know the backstory. I could not quickly find anything about it on social media. There were no explanations, brochures, video links, or sermons: just an elderly man and his signs.

I have been thinking about him for days now. I wish I had taken the time to talk to him. I wish I had invited him out for a meal or coffee. I wish I had asked his story and why he carried the sign. I wish I had gotten to know him so that I could tell you the rest of the story.   

Unfortunately, I was too busy. I was rushing from one thing to another: so much to do and so little time to finish it. I saw him standing there and walked by without hesitation. A quick mental note about the sign and on with my day.

In reflection, I thought Jesus would have probably stopped and talked to him. Sadly, I am no Jesus; then again, maybe that is not the point. Perhaps he was Jesus to me that day. But who has time to think about that?

Developing disciples of Jesus is nothing like killing snakes.

Imagine you walked into the shed behind your house, filled with venomous snakes. Our natural reaction would be to go after them with all our energy. There would be no plan other than to destroy the one who threatened to harm us. We would randomly swing our rake in all directions to keep the creatures at bay. We would aim to make it out of the situation alive and undamaged. 

Sometimes I watch new believers go about discipleship the same way. We want to be like Jesus and go after it with all our energy. We have no plan other than to attend whatever event is closest to us. We listen and read anything labeled “Christian,” hoping to learn as fast as possible. Our goal is to make it through this life and spend eternity in heaven.

Discipleship is not like killing snakes. Instead, it is a long slow process. It requires day-by-day attention to our souls. It is intentional without being hurried. We plan to gain knowledge and practical advice from those who have gone before us. We are mentored and equipped in the service of the Lord. Our goal is to become like Jesus until we can spend our days with him. In the meantime, we will help other people become better disciples too. 

I love the energy and excitement of a new believer. I wish I could bottle it up and share it with those who have followed Jesus for a lifetime. But their exuberance for faith is often like killing snakes; the sad result is that it usually ends up killing them.

I hope you are excited to become all that God desires for you but walk the path slowly and methodically with a clear end in mind. Quite often, slow and steady wins the race.

Humans love to label and categorize things, including people. We do this in dozens of ways, from simple descriptions like introvert and extrovert to intensive psychological tests. Personally, I have taken temperament analysis tests and drawn out my thinking related to animals. All of these are simply an attempt to get to know people better. If we can label people, we hope to understand their behavioral patterns and predict future encounters.

Unfortunately, no one fits into the neat little boxes we create. Everyone has a unique experience and personality. No two people are alike, no two situations are the same, and no one can accurately predict what will happen in any encounter. 

It is even more complicated when we add the “God factor.” People who believe in God understand that he can empower a person, and they can become an entirely new creation.

How would things be different if we got to know people instead of labeling them? What would happen if we looked past how others classified people and tried to get to know the wonderfully unique person that God created?

People will often defy our logic and break through all our categories, which is what makes them worth knowing. People desperately want to be fully understood by others, but that can only happen if we accept their individuality and forget their labels.   

Your journey of faith has value to other people. 

Often we are embarrassed by the twists and turns on our walk with God. There were times we turned our backs and seasons of poor choices where we felt more like a prodigal than a prodigy. We went through periods where our faith was small, and our thoughts about God were infrequent. There are multiple days we would like to hide in the past and never speak about again.

Those experiences of failures, along with your successes, are what made you the person we see today. When you share those parts of your story, you will find it helps others on their journey. Sometimes it warns about wrongful thinking and how it can hurt us. Other times it will encourage people who are also struggling on their journey. Still, other tales will inspire, challenge and help people as they live their faith. 

Your story is powerful, even with all its bumps and bruises. Scratch that, especially because of its bumps and bruises. 

Last week I attended a conference at my alma mater. The emphasis of the week was the unsung heroes in the Bible. Some Bible characters are mentioned in passing, yet they impact the overall narrative of the scriptures. 

Each session started with 2-3 worship songs led by a band from the college. A few songs were unfamiliar, but the students were singing loudly, and I found it uplifting every time I could hear hundreds of voices singing their praise to God. 

I sat in the back of the auditorium for one session to get a view of the entire building. That is when I noticed the guy running the lights in the sound booth. He was unlike anyone I had ever witnessed serving in the media center during a worship program. He stood up and sang along, often raising his hands and moving with the music. At times he appeared to be shouting out the lyrics from the very back of the auditorium. He was pouring his heart into worship, and only a few people in the back row, like me, even saw him.

This incident reminded me that true worship is not something we do for others to see; it is the unseen act of praising God while no one else is watching. It is not reserved for Church and conference gatherings. It can be done anytime and anywhere you feel the urge to do it. Don’t wait for Sunday morning or to be in the presence of others to worship. God sees your heart whenever and wherever you lift your voice to him. 

Recently I heard a man stand up during a sermon and read a speech from Theodore Roosevelt. It was initially called “Citizenship in a Republic” but has become known as “The Man in the Arena” speech. It was delivered in Paris on April 23, 1910.

The preacher I heard read these words did it slowly and methodically. He read it to people who are Church leaders with an emphasis on their work in the world as citizens of the kingdom of God.

So to you, servant of God, I share these words for you serving in the arena.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither knows victory nor defeat.”

Recently I heard a preacher say that Christians need to be clear on these two words.

First, God finds all of us valuable. Each human life has infinite value and worth. We are created in God’s image, and Jesus died on the cross to bring us back into a right relationship with him. Therefore, you are valuable to God.

Second, being useful is something different. When someone is useful, they are able to complete the work assigned to them. They serve, give, and love in the name of Jesus and further the work of the Kingdom of God.

Every life has value, but God also needs useful people to do his work.

Ask yourself, “Am I useful to God?” Is the world becoming more like the kingdom of God because of you?

To answer that question, look at the fruit of your life and labor. A good tree bears good fruit, and valuable people are like apple trees in October.

Every one of us has a multitude of ideas moving around in our brains. They cover every topic under the sun, from work to recreation to Church to God. 

One crucial question to continually ask yourself is simply, “Where did I get that idea?”

Are your thoughts on a subject derived from your parents? Did you learn this from a friend? Perhaps you had some classes in college that influenced your thinking. Maybe you watched something on TV or read it in a book. Was your information gathered from social media, podcasts, or talk radio?

None of those places are inherently wrong, but if you follow Jesus, you need to ask what the Bible teaches. Did Jesus address it during his ministry? Are the issues discussed in the New Testament? Was there someplace in the Old Testament that shines a light on our thinking?

Numerous ideas are moving around in our brains; not all are equal in value. One challenging part of living for Jesus is pushing back years of teaching and replacing it with God’s truth. But it is only in knowing the truth that we will truly be set free.   

When I graduated college, the edges of my life were sharp and could hurt you. I had firm opinions that could not be swayed. I had unmovable ideas about how the world worked on topics such as marriage, parenting, faith, Church, and politics. And unfortunately, I went into the ministry with these rough edges, and I continually left hurt and heartache behind me.

Looking back, I see the wisdom of God in putting us together with other believers in this thing called a Church. While my life crashed hard into some people, others crashed harder into me. Slowly those rough edges began wearing smooth.

Now I could understand the pain and struggle some people experienced in their marriage; sometimes, there were no clear answers. I saw good parents fail and watched my kids have their own issues. People who didn’t share the same views as me on everything were walking with Jesus in a vibrant relationship that I did not possess. And politics brought only division to those who swore by its power.

Little by little, over a lifetime with the other followers of Jesus, I became less rough and more friendly to the people I met. I am still not where God wants me, but with every passing season, I feel another chunk of me fall away as I am molded to look like Christ.

When people ask about the Church, I have my Biblical answers and simple explanations. But I want to tell them that it is the most incredible group of people you will ever hate until God helps you to love them. Then and only then will you understand what I am writing.

Anytime you watch someone do their job and think, “That looks easy,” and possibly add the phrase, “I could do it better.”

Know that you are 100% wrong.

The people who make their job look easy are the ones who spend countless hours away from people perfecting their craft. They have calloused hands, lost sleep, and spent years working on their skill. They have knowledge and experience accumulated through failures and mistakes.

I have learned through the years that a person with skill will only make it LOOK easy.

This is true in every arena of life.