When I became an Usher at our Church, I was given a red sports coat to wear while I was serving, it was like a uniform. With ushers of all sizes and shapes, both men and women, wearing different clothes, it made us look the same in that one way.
The color of the sports coat wasn’t a subtle red, but bright and rather gaudy. I soon understood it was meant to make us stand out in a crowd and people could easily identify us and know we were there to serve them. The color was peculiar and no one else would wear that color of sports coat to Church. We all took care of our coats because the Church sacrificed to buy them, and we didn’t want their efforts to go to waste.
When we moved into the new Church building our red sports coats were replaced with subtle blue ones. Yes, they were nice and were another sacrificial expense, but they weren’t the same. Someone didn’t think we should stand out quite so much. The blue sports coats looked nice enough and served as a good uniform for us, but visitors might not realize we were there to serve, and it was easier for us to get lost in a crowd. The subtle color also made it more likely that someone would wear a similar sports coat and they could be mistaken for an Usher.
Those red coats remind me of how we are supposed to be as Christians, because “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17 KJV). Christians should be similar in some ways. The world should see the love of JESUS in us! Even with people of all shapes and sizes, colors and backgrounds, JESUS said all men shall know you “are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35 KJV).
That means you should look different from the world. You are not the same and you walk, your talk, your life should show it! You should stand out in a crowd and people should know you belong to JESUS and are there to share Him with a lost and dying world. Showing the love of JESUS won’t be the latest trend and no one in the world will want to look like that. When you are that peculiar in the world’s eyes, you will be attacked. The world is controlled by the thief who “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10 KJV), so “guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov 4:23 KJV).
There is another attack that is more subtle, but just as deadly. People will advise you to tone down your witness a little bit so you will be accepted by the world. They will say you shouldn’t be so different that you stand out. They want you to ease up and allow others to enjoy some of the world. It sounds like they are giving in a little, but they want you to compromise until you are like them and have lost your peculiar flavor. JESUS said “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour…it is thenceforth good for nothing” (Mat 5:13 KJV).
So, what am I going to do? JESUS said, “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” …and… “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mat 22:37 and 39 KJV) and don’t hide your peculiar light, let it shine for JESUS (Mat 5:15 KJV)!
Wayne Lance – That’s Good News to Share!