The Face on God’s Brochure

When a church is raising funds for a new building or a diocese is launching a stewardship appeal, there is usually someone — or several someone’s — who serves as the face of the campaign. Maybe it’s a married couple, or a family, or a group of folks who have been particularly active in the community and can speak to the worthiness of whatever endeavor is being undertaken.

Oftentimes, for better or worse, we fill that role for God. We are the face on the front of His promotional brochure. If we call ourselves Christians, that means that people will meet Christ through us. That’s what being an Everyday Steward is — a steward, everyday; someone who conducts his Master’s business when the Master is not seen.

It can be intimidating because we have so much baggage and no capabilities of our own. But then we remember that we are offered reconciliation through Christ — that “the old things have passed away, (and) new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We remember that we are the prodigal sons, and the fattened calf has been slaughtered on our behalf.

But it’s a role that requires commitment. The story of the prodigal son is only compelling and only means something because the son, presumably, embraced his reconciliation to his father. He didn’t go on to abandon him again.

So let us think to ourselves each day, “Whoever I encounter will meet Christ’s ambassador. I was dead and have come to life again. How can I speak to the worthiness of that reconciliation? How can I make others desire it?”

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS