Billboards for Jesus

So I’m working out at the gym, trying to loose my ‘love handles”, and I see a guy I know from my kids school. He’s an athlete and his kids can kick my kids butt any day of the week. I have no problem admitting it. It’s true.

Anyway, we strike up a conversation, while doing leg lifts, about exercise and getting into shape and he says, “we need to be good billboards for Jesus.” I almost threw up in my mouth.

I’m sorry, well, no I’m not, but I don’t work out to “look good for Jesus.” I know a lot of ugly people that are great “billboards for Christ.” Jesus himself was not anything to look at according to scripture. It is funny how we want to make him handsome and white.

Now I will agree that a dirty homeless man yelling in a drunken stupor that Jesus is coming soon is not the best advertisement for the Gospel, but I sure don’t subscribe to the notion that if we had more “beautiful” people as Christians, then we would get more people to accept Christ.

This world is full of beautiful screwed up people. We need real people who are genuinely in love with Jesus who reflect that love relationship to others. His comment made me want to go back to pigging out and get a beer belly just to be ornery. But that wouldn’t be very Christ-like. Damn.

In our weakness, He is strong. I am holy because He is holy. We love because He first loved us. Anything that is good in me is because Jesus did it. Not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit. The Good News is that Jesus changes us on the inside. I sure as heck didn’t get better looking when I accepted Christ.

If I am to truly reflect Christ, it will not be because I have a great body, not that I wouldn’t mind having one. The image of God in me will come when I loose myself, deny myself and die to myself and find myself in Him. Only then will He truly show through and my “billboard” will shine bright. And I’m thinking the bigger I am (Hello Twinkies) the brighter I will shine. Anyone want to go witnessing at Krispy Kreme?