“The wise watch their steps and avoid evil; fools are headstrong and reckless.” (Proverbs 14:16 The Message Bible)
The title for this meditation, of course, comes with a story. Monday morning, the day after preaching on “Integrity and Honesty,” I had to take the family vehicle to a collision shop for an 8:00 a.m. appointment. Naturally, you who know me would expect nothing less; naturally I show up early and sit outside the pane glass overhead doors about 10 minutes before 8:00 a.m. It seems like I should have been ready to be a real witness for the Lord. Afterall, 0I had finished my morning prayer. I had already drunk a large serving of eye-opening, black coffee from my personal coffee cup that has these words inscribed on it, “No Coffee, No Talkie.” Like I said, it seems like I should have been ready to be a real witness for the Lord.
I had put in some early Bible work in the process of sending out the daily meditation via email and posting it on the blog site. But as I sat in my car, I’m not sure if it was my Human Resource background or my tendency to be frustrated by poor customer service, my areas for “needs improvement,” but whatever the root cause, I found myself being critical of everything in my thoughts. Why could they not let me check my car in and be on my way? Why am I seeing ten employees walking around talking, drinking their coffee, and carrying “important paperwork” back and forth? Look I know that old trick! When you want to look busy, carry some papers around, carry a corrugated box in your hand, claim that you are just walking away from your desktop manager by walking around, or just send a message by putting on that “I’m working hard, busy look” on your face.”
When they finally let me pull my car in the sign in area, I get looked at up and down by the man checking me in. One of the questions he needed to know was, “Who is your employer?” I told him I pastor a church. His head quickly moved up and down as he scanned my appearance with his piercing eyes. I didn’t get it! Why did he seem to have a facial expression that communicated disbelief? Was it because I did not have on business attire? Was I lacking one of those priest coats or a double-sided pectoral cross? Was it because my sweatpants and jean vest did not match his opinion of what a man of God should dress like? Being transparent now, I will admit it could have been my scowl that did not hide my impatience and intolerance for not being un-timely. Yes, that was probably part of it, but when I got into the rental car I was given to drive while during the days while our car was being repaired, I adjusted the mirror before pulling off. When I looked in the mirror, I saw the wording on my hat, not one I purchased, but a hat that one of my sons had left in the coat closet at home. It was grey and it matched my attire. But the wording said, “Reckless.”
The customer service man checking me in and checking me out was probably saying, “Reckless? Doesn’t that mean irresponsible, thoughtless, or careless? No wonder his car is here! And this reckless one gets a rental!” I laughed, but only for a minute. I’ll be transparent a little more! I showed some integrity, facing the truth within myself! And then I looked at whether or not I had showed honesty, sharing the truth with others; the truth that Christ lives in me, and the truth that I depend on the Lord to order my steps. I had just preached, as I said before on “Integrity and Honesty.” Opps! I, the preacher, had a failing! I had been reckless with my facial expressions, reckless with the tone of my voice, reckless with my speed of speech, and my interactions clearly revealed my lack of patience as my body language was on high volume. Lord help me!
But enough about my story; enough about me, lets pull you into the title above, “Reckless.” You, as well as me, we have to realize that wherever we are, we are ambassadors for Christ. We have a responsibility to love others. And love, according to the scriptures, is kind, patient, not arrogant, not provoked, and does not take into account a wrong suffered. We have to be able to act like Christ in the face of trying times, testing times, and be victorious over times of temptation to act any different than we should act. Listen! Neither you or I can be irresponsible, thoughtless, or careless when it comes to our responsibilities of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Let’s go our best to do better, going forward, starting today, okay? Let’s not imitate the actions of the foolish and be reckless. Get rid of reckless. But can I keep my hat? Smile! Be blessed!
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors…” (2 Corinthians 5:20a NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King