This question came to mind for me when I was drinking my coffee and having my quiet time this morning. When someone asks you, "So who is Michelle," (fill in your name in place of mine). Do you say, "I am the founder, owner, lawyer of such and such place? I am a mother of "X" number of children? I am a single parent or married, blah, blah, blah. Or do I say, "I am a born again believer, a Christian, a Sunday School teacher, Pastor or Deacon of my church...and then follow up with your worldly position? Or do you tell everyone who you are according to what they are looking to hear or what impresses you most about yourself? I am guilty of this same thing. We tend to give people what they want and what we know they are looking for instead of leading with who we really are. We act as if our lives having been transformed is a useless piece of information. If our relationship with Christ is priority then we should lead with what is most important to us, right?
If we, in real life were the children of a king or the children of the President, hmmm, might we lead with that. That is rather impressive, I would say and most would probably agree. We who have been washed by the blood that Christ shed on the cross for the redemption of our sins....are truly children of THE KING! Why then do we tell everyone everything else about ourselves and exclude or delay that HUGE fact? Does it embarrass us? Do we not want to be questioned or looked at as differently? Do we think it is not important? You tell me. My answer is that I simply didn't even think about it like that until this morning. Praise God for His faithfulness to reveal areas of idolatry (putting myself before Him). You might not have thought about it either because most people introduce themselves the same way. Usually we are looking for the answer ourselves of what position they hold, whether they are married and have children, etc. But wouldn't it be a great way to open the door for conversation about the Lord and possibly lead to a possible conversion? If nothing more they will know you have boundaries (hopefully) and that you are a "safe person (hopefully) and that you are open to talk to them about private matters of the heart (hopefully).
I kept saying hopefully because not everyone carries themselves like a child of the King. If you are going to lead with this, let your "walk it out" be evident, let's not give God or Christianity a bad reputation.
If you have a ministry, You must have a bio. When the bio is constructed it is usually listing all your accomplishments first and all the schools you studies at, all the awards you received, etc. THEN, last but not least....it mentions that you are a woman or man of God, a loving father of a number of children and an loving husband or wife to your spouse. WOW! It kind of sounds like we are ALL THAT all by yourself with no focus or praise to God. We close our introduction of ourselves with last but not least...."I am a Christian." From today on, let's start with what matter most to God, that is who we are in Him.
I have to go change my bio after I finish this blog:) Could it possibly be that because we have our priorities out of order, our life follows in it's footsteps and is also somewhat out of order? I wonder what would happen if we lead with our relationship to the Almighty King of heaven and earth, who rules and REIGNS over everything and everyone. Oh, and don't get His sovereignty twisted, if you are not a child of the king, HE still rules and REIGNS over your life as well. You just don't acknowledge that fact nor do you acknowledge Him.
Can you just imagine how much your witnessing/evangelizing efforts would multiply? After all we are here and have been given the Great Commission to win souls for Christ and make disciples. If you don't witness at all this would be a great way to start.
I encourage those of you who have a ministry to start out with Christ and end with Christ by saying that all that you have accomplished or been awarded is because your Heavenly Father has said well done and that it is ONLY because of Him that you have done and accomplished all you have.
I encourage you to put God first in EVERYTHING, including your bio or your introduction of yourself to anyone. The only way this would be impossible for you to do is if you really are not a child of the King or that you are not proud to be a Kings kid. There is one other reason you might struggle with this and that would be that you are prideful and looking for kudos for yourself. God knows who is sitting on the throne in your life.
Could you really have become who you are without Him, His love, His guidance, His discipline, His favor, His grace or His mercy? NO.
PROCLAIM YOUR TRUE IDENTITY TO THE WORLD!
www.hereignsministries.org
1 comment:
Great post! I've never looked at it that way. I am quick to tell people my profession, number of children and marital status BEFORE I tell them that I'm a child of the King and everything I am is because of Him. It's not that I mention this last because it's low on my list of priority but becasue as you said, we tend to tell people who we are based on the world's standards which is wrong.
Your post prompted me to look at my profile on my blogger page. I actually did start with mentioning that I am a child of God but it doesn't always "flow" this way in conversation. Thank you so much for posting this. This is definately something to consider especially this time of year when people tend to be more friendly with long lines in stores. Beginnng by mentioning to folks who you are would be an awesome way to start wittnessing.
Blessings!
Shanita
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