It Matters

Have you ever had one of those days?
I ended up having that day today, though I didn't know it was coming til this afternoon. But when "one of those days" caught up with me, it did so full-force, and I was caught a little off-guard. I sometimes pride myself (perhaps too much so) on being able to go with the flow and lead meetings, lead worship, teach - whatever - and be fully in the moment, regardless of what's going on in my own life or how I feel at any particular moment. I think ministry teaches and requires that, sometimes. In order to be helpful in someone else's crisis, we need to be able to put our own issues on hold and at arm's length, for a time anyway.
To get to the point: my bad day smacked me upside the head tonight in the middle of teaching the 7th-9th grade confirmation class. The students were largely not paying attention to what I was trying to say about Jesus sending out the 70 (see Luke 10), but were focused instead on their neighbors or whatever interesting spot was on the wall over my right shoulder - all as is pretty normal for 13-16 year olds. We were sort of having a conversation about the opportunities we are each given every day to share the good news of God's love in Jesus, sometimes in unexpected places and in totally unplanned ways. But then I hit the wall. Or the wall hit me. So through the tears and shaky voice (why does it always happen like that?) I asked them "Who here has had a crappy day?" Of course everyone raised their hands. And I said, "Right. I'm having that crappy day, and you guys aren't really helping very much."

I reminded them - and myself - that what we do and say really does matter. Our words really can build up or tear down. The way we treat people says something about what we believe to be true and important, it can tell us what we think of others, and ourselves, and how we relate to the rest of the world.

In 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, the Apostle Paul says
... in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Ambassadors for Christ. What a job! What a privilege! What a responsibility! What an honor, to be the one to tell someone: Jesus knows. God loves you and won't leave you. Your sins are forgiven, for Jesus' sake.