Is My Faith Showing?

Two recent experiences have left me puzzled and humbly grateful. If you're a Christian and you ever think you don't make enough conscious effort to share the Gospel, these will make you think about your unconscious evangelism.

My wife and I were on a plane last month and somewhere toward the end of the ride, a flight attendant asked us if we were missionaries. We answered no and she didn't ask any more. We scratched our heads wondering what led her to ask. Did we look like missionaries? What do missionaries look like? We were Americans on an international flight, but we never took out a Bible or any obvious clue that might have given us away as Christians. When the food came, we prayed (insert your favorite joke about airline food here), but as far as we knew, this was the only thing anyone might have observed. We barely even talked with any other passengers. Perhaps she overheard our conversations between ourselves. We don't know.

This past weekend, we had dinner with our six-year-old son at a restaurant in northern Minnesota. We talk a lot with our son about his toy habit, doing all we can to keep him tethered to reality. He talks about G.I. Joe, we talk about real soldiers and what makes heroes. He talks about Transformers, we talk about real robots and the engineers who build them. This particular evening we talked about a lot of things. At one point we happened to discuss what life might have been like in Mary and Joseph's home when Jesus was a little boy, how Jesus probably helped his father in his carpentry work, and so on. I told my son I would like to make a little workshop for him next to my workshop in our new home we're building this year. This was all ordinary conversation to us. We were just enjoying an evening out together. When the couple in the booth next to us stood up to leave, the man stopped by and asked me if I was a pastor. We laughed and said no, and wondered why he asked. The man apologized for eavesdropping but told us he appreciated how we talked to each other and to our son. It turned out he was a hospital chaplin himself, so we chatted a little more, then said our goodbyes.

We've gotten great laughs over our being taken for a missionary or a pastor, but in honesty we're not proud of these events. Rather, we're humbled at the realization that what we do and say is noticed by others. What joy and relief that on these occasions we were perceived positively. Would that we always come across so. I shudder to think of the times someone knew I was a Christian but I wasn't acting like it. Thank God these same people didn't observe me when I was driving.

I know that from a certain perspective I could have answered a nuanced "yes" to either question. (Aren't all Christians missionaries, and as a father am I not called to pastor my family?) But I like to think our simple and honest "no" made a stronger impression. Isn't it better to be caught acting like a Christian when you're not paid to do so, and when you're not even trying?

I thank God for these two experiences. Lord, make me always aware of my responsibility as a representative of You. Let me not embarrass You and never disgrace You. Whatever role I fill in your Kingdom, make my behavior a uniform that others see and recognize and trust. Let our faith always be natural, honest, and sincere. Let us always be mistaken for missionaries.