On Mondays we take a few minutes to reflect on the ways we have seen Jesus in our daily lives over the past week or so. I call these Monday posts everydayjesus: seeing him in the daily-ness of life. # everydayjesus
Today, however, I want to do something a bit different. Instead of talking about how I saw Jesus in my daily life, I want to enter into a few moments of self-examination with you. Because, you see, there will be times in our lives where we are an example of Jesus to other people.
That whole thing scares me, really. I am so error-prone, mistake-riddled, and just plain sinful, that to think of others seeing Jesus because of me….well, it just doesn’t seem plausible.
We know it is true, however. In the book of Titus, which my small group and I are studying right now, we find Paul urging Titus to:
Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works (Titus 2:7 ESV)
Paul is reminding Titus that he should model the life of Christ for the people of the island of Crete. In that way, they would find Jesus.
This week I was reminded of the importance of modeling the Jesus-life as I read Mark Noll’s excellent book entitled, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. I happen to enjoy history, and this book gives me more than a plateful of it.
Early in the volume, Noll recounts the history of Catholic missionaries to the North American continent. He tells of Jean de Brebeuf who worked among the Huron Indians of New France (Canada) for more than a decade in the early 1600s. He prepared Christian literature in the language of the Hurons, and ultimately won many to Christ.
Eventually tribal wars forced the Hurons to move from the region. As a result Brebeuf was martyred in 1649 by the archenemies of the Hurons, the Five Nations Iroquis. Consider a quote by Noll about Brebeuf’s martyrdom.
It says something of the stature he [Brebeuf] had gained among the Native Americans that when he was finally killed, after excruciating torture, the Iroquois cut out his heart and ate it so that they might receive a share of his courage. Emphasis, mine
Although the Iroquois may not have recognized Brebeuf’s courage as Jesus Christ, that was exactly what they were seeing.
As I read that, I was forced to stop and ponder my own life. Do others see Jesus in me?
Is He evident in my speech, my writing, my courage, my love for my family and friends, my work, and my worship?
What about you? Do others see something in your life that would make them want what you have, like the Iroquois wanted what Brebeuf had?
In the good times and the bad, do you and I model Jesus for a desperately lost and needy world?
‘Tis a sobering thought, friend. A sobering thought, indeed.
