Can Anyone See The Difference?

This is a picture of my dad taken many years ago.
He died in 2000 and I miss him like crazy.

But that is not what my blog is about.

This blog is about his beard.
Can you see it?
When I was growing up, my daddy always had that beard.

There is a family story that I believe to be true, though I don't remember it myself. One day, my dad decided to shave off his beard. He went into the bathroom, lathered up, took out his straight razor and a few minutes later, it was gone.

At the time, my brother, Daniel was not very old. My dad came out of the bathroom. Daniel saw my dad for what very well could have been the first time without a beard and he stopped in his tracks. He knew immediately that something was very different.

The words Daniel spoke are what I find humorous.

He said, "Dad, can I take you to school for show and tell?"

That just makes me giggle. But it also makes me think. Why did Daniel want to take Dad to school? Because he looked so very different. So different that it was worthy of showing him off in one of Daniel's rare turns to bring an item from home for show and tell.

Sometimes I think about my own life and the way I live it and I wonder if it is show and tell worthy. Is my life different enough in Christ that people stop in their tracks and wonder what is so different about that lady? Do they see God's love, mercy and joy?

Do you know the verse known as "the great commission?"

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Matthew 28:19

There are three verbs in there. Go. Make. Baptize. When I was in college, I got a little stuck on the go part. Evangelizing was something that you went out to do. We would go to the snack bar, go door to door in dorms, go do surveys on campus, and even go to other countries. This was all very good.

Later, however, I learned that in the original language, the verse reads a little closer to this, "Therefore, as you are going, make disciples..." This has really made a difference in how I think about sharing the truth of God's word with others. I still need to be intentional in my going and in my speech, but I also know that the way I live my life every moment is a testimony to the work God is doing in me.

So, what's the conclusion?

You don't need to shave your beard.

I know. You don't have a beard. That's good.

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."

2 Timothy 4:2-5