A Sermon in Shoes

Many of you probably know that I work part-time at the local university's cafeteria. There, I work two back-to-back shifts three times a week. First, I spend about two and a half hours cleaning the bathrooms, emptying trash cans, and cleaning the sinks. For the last hour and a half or so, I wash tables, straighten chairs, and vacuum floors out in the dining hall.

When I clean the bathrooms, empty trash, and clean the sinks, I am almost constantly around cafe personal only. Almost everywhere I look, someone is wearing a green shirt (our uniform color)! If someone isn't wearing green, then they are probably a supervisor (who gets to choose what color to wear), or a delivery man delivering more goods to the cafe. In other words, for my first shift I am in the cafe proper, interacting with basically no one who isn't related somehow to the cafe.

But when I fill up my bucket with water, grab a towel to wash the tables with, and head out to the dining hall, it's a totally different story. I am not in the cafe proper anymore, and often I may be the only cafe representative out in the dining hall. When other people come through the dining hall, whether to eat or just passing through, I am the only "cafe" they see. There's the guy who wanted to know where the hot water machine was, and then another one who asked what the cafe hours were. And then there's the girl who couldn't open her food due to the packaging. She asked me to open it for her, and I did. I'm certainly not trying to brag, but I have realized that if I am friendly and help these people in their quandaries, they will have a positive image of the cafe.

I think almost nothing of putting on my green shirt and heading on into the cafe for a few hours of work and fun (the people there are so wonderful, friendly, and funny!). However, it has been quite a sobering thought that if I am not so friendly and helpful, people's opinion of the cafe will go down. Depending on my actions, I can either enhance or destroy the cafe's reputation.

Wow.

You know, that's a lot how it is in our spiritual lives. People may not listen to a sermon that we preach, but they will observe our actions. They probably know that we are Christians. What if we, unmindful of them, do something that is un-Christian like? Then what will they think of Christians, and to take this further, of God? I'm just starting to grasp this concept myself, but--has it ever dawned on you that your actions either enhance or destroy God's reputation? Yeah--I know, heavy stuff! But it's stuff worth thinking about, too.

That's my 2012 challenge for you. Day by day, commune with God to get on the same page that He is. With God's help, help enhance His reputation. Be a "sermon in shoes" for Him!