When Random Stuff Happens
So I messed up a little over a month ago. Rather, I confessed that I messed up a little over a month ago to some close friends who have been praying with me and counseling and whatnot. But since then, I've decided that I wanted to be a better Christian, a better witness. I've done everything I know to do, but mostly I started praying more.
I changed the way I talked, and I work in a retail environment, so I've worked very hard at being kinder and nicer and less rude and sarcastic with customers. I was talking to a group of customers, and we got on the topic of church, and they asked me where I went to church. I told them, and they asked me what my denomination was. I told them I was Pentecostal ... Apostolic.
Then the girl's face drops. She says, "I used to be Apostolic."
So I prayed that God would have her call me, because I couldn't call her. I wanted to find out why she used to be Apostolic. I wanted to know what happened that she was no longer Apostolic. Then she called me. We talked, and then I invited her to church. She said she wasn't really ready for the whole "laying hands on my head thing" so I invited her to a party at one of my friend's house. She agreed, and we went. By the time we got there, she was so nervous to be around other Apostolics that she was actually shaking. When we left, she wanted to know when we would hang out with everyone again.
What would've happened if I hadn't been a good witness at work?
I just found out that the new guy at work is also Apostolic. What would he have thought of my church if I hadn't been a good witness? "Oh, you know, those Calvary kids."
I am finding more and more that I never know when I'll run into someone who is watching me, who is hungry, who is curious. I am trying to not just act like a Christian, but to actually live the dogma. I want it to be internalized, so that it is the definition of who I am. To repeat the words of Jars of Clay,