A Call From A Friend

Today I received an email from a person that was very important in my high school years. She was like a little sister to me, but over time we lost contact. In her email she described her life, a great one that I am very happy about for her, and gave me a run down. But also in this email, she reminded me something of my past. It was a name she used to call me that I had completely forgotten about. Why is this important? For her, I had left a deposit in her memory for something that I had forgotten about myself. How many other people have memories of me that I have forgotten? For her it was a good memory, I think, but how many people remember me for a bad reason. Was I mean, hurtful, unforgiving, manipulative, divisive, or any other things that would give them a less than favorable memory of me? Why would this matter now?

It matters now because of who I represent. As a Christ-Follower, everything I do is about trying to bring the relevance of Christ to a crazy world. If I take a minute “off” and do something that brings a bad light on Christ, I might not even know it. I might make a memory deposit in someone’s mind that turns them away from Christ because of who they think I am. I want people to find the grace of God in everyday life, and I am responsible to reflect that in my living, speaking, and behavior modeling world.

There is a passage in the Bible where David does something stupid. God, in response, says “You have now given them a chance to blaspheme me.” God did nothing wrong, yet because of the careless actions of one of His followers, God Himself was kept in a low regard. That scares me. It humbles me. And most importantly, it drives me. It drives me to know every conversation matters, every decision matters, and I am responsible as a Christ follower.

Stop for a moment and think. Think about the cross and what it means. Think about what you are called to do as a believer. Make a point today to make a deposit in someone’s memory that will ultimately point them to the cross.