Dear Church Family,

On a recent drive to Green Pond for a funeral, I noticed that harvest had begun in a few of the fields along the way. Combines were moving, trucks were waiting, and people were working out in what felt like very unseasonable heat.

Watching them brought back a memory from a summer a long, long time ago. Back when I was a young man, had more hair, probably more energy, and apparently believed I could do just about anything if somebody was willing to pay me a little gas money.

That particular summer, I was involved in one of Ken Bradbury’s productions at Green Pastures Christian Campground. We were doing Jesus Christ Superstar, and I had been cast in the role of Jesus. That sentence sounds considerably more impressive than the reality probably was.

At the same time, I was picking up whatever odd jobs I could find to keep gas in my tan Ford Fairmont. Our very own Roger Dunham needed some help putting up square bales, and Roger was kind enough to hire a decidedly non-farmboy for the day.

Now, if you have never put up square bales in the summer, let me just say that it is a wonderful way to discover muscles you didn’t know you had and reconsider several of your previous life choices. I did my best… I am sure I provided entertainment for the real farmhands.

What I did not know was that Roger was getting some additional entertainment out of the arrangement. Apparently, sometime during all of this, Roger went to coffee at the local restaurant. He rather enjoyed telling the guys around the table that he had “Jesus Christ” working for him, putting up bales on his farm. I’m guessing that story got told more than once. The funny thing is, I never knew about it. Decades went by before Roger finally told me what he had been saying at coffee all those years earlier, and I laughed when I heard it.

But driving past those fields recently, I found myself thinking about that story again, and this time another thought occurred to me. Back then, I was only playing the role of Jesus. I put on a costume, learned some lines, sang some songs, and when the production was over, the role was finished. But for those of us who call ourselves Christians, representing Jesus is not a role we take off when the performance is over.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.” An ambassador represents someone else wherever he goes. And whether we think about it or not, that is exactly what we are doing every day. People are forming impressions about Jesus by watching those of us who carry His name. They watch how we work when the day is hot and we are tired.

They notice how we treat the waitress when the restaurant is busy, how we talk about someone who isn’t in the room, how we respond when we don’t get our way, how we conduct business, how we treat our family, and whether the faith we talk about on Sunday seems to make any difference on Monday.

Most of the time, we don’t even know anyone is watching. I certainly didn’t know, all those years ago, that somewhere over coffee Roger Dunham was telling people that “Jesus Christ” was working on his farm. And maybe that is the part of the story worth remembering.

Whether we realize it or not, Jesus Christ really does go to work with us. He goes to school with us. He goes to the coffee shop with us. He goes to the ballgame, the grocery store, the office, the field, and the family gathering with us. Not because we are playing the part of Jesus, but because we bear His name.

So wherever this week takes you, remember: somebody may be getting an impression of Jesus by watching you. Let’s do our best to represent Him well.

Loving you all,
Michael