Now What?

The lines were insane. The stories were amazing. Stores were flooded with customers. Individual franchises set sales records before supper-time.

I took an informal poll last night at Lebanon Road and asked how many folks had been to Chick-fil-A (or were planning to after services). My guess would be that about half our congregation raised their hands.

It was a banner day, and I think it opened some people’s eyes.

But…now what?

DISCLAIMER: I loved what happened yesterday at Chick-fil-A. I am thankful for Mr. Cathy’s statement about traditional marriage. I am thankful for those who showed their appreciation in this way. This post is not questioning taking a stand.

There…disclaimer over.

As I was saying…now what?

Does anyone remember when religious groups, including the Southern Baptist Convention, vowed to boycott the Disney company? We were fired up…for about a month.

Do we remember when The Passion of the Christ was going to be watched so many times by Christians that it was going to be the highest grossing film ever made? It doesn’t even rank in the top 50, and wasn’t even the highest-grossing film of that year.

Was it wrong to get fired up about Disney, or to want to support a faith-based film? Of course not, and I’m thankful that these types of things light a fire in our hearts at times.

But here is my question: what are you and I going to do today that shows a stand for right and against wrong? Without a restaurant to go to; without a company to boycott; without a film to promote. What will we do?

How about we simply follow the example of Jesus.

You see, Jesus had “big events” in His life, too. You might think of when He drove out the money-changers from the temple. We might consider the glorious Mount of Transfiguration. We might just go to the simple but powerful Sermon on the Mount. These were huge events.

But when John began His account of the gospel–and, remember, John was there on the Mount of Transfiguration–he wrote about the glory that was shown in Jesus being “full of grace and truth.”

In other words, it wasn’t just the big event that made Jesus amazing. It was the everyday consistency of His character.

So, will you show grace to someone today? Will you teach someone the truth today?

Let’s follow the example of our Lord, and spend every day going about doing good.

Why does the “big event” light such a fire and draw us in? What can we do each day to shine our light? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo credit: charlesstarrett on Creative Commons.

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