What does a Christian look like?

By Avery Lawrence – Pastor of Persimmon Baptist Church

There is a story of a young man that showed up at a town’s finest church. You know the kind where all the men are dressed in the finest suits with a Bible tucked neatly under their arms. The women all have new dresses, the finest jewelry, and their hair is as high as the holiest of holies, and the children can speak three languages before they are four, and each are more righteous than any Pharisee…. This young man was like a fish out of water. He wore flip-flops, had long, straggly hair, tattoos, earrings, and looked like he hadn’t had a bath in a day or two. He made his way into the church with plans of sitting near the back and worshipping with the fine congregation. The place was packed. He made his way down the aisle looking for any available seat without drawing attention to himself. He made it all the way to the front without finding a seat, so he did what anyone else would do. He sat down in the floor, right up near the altar. The whole place was aghast! What in the world was this hobo doing in their fine establishment. As the congregation was getting more and more perturbed, one of the eldest deacons started making his way from the back of the church. It is said that you could hear his cane clicking with each step he made toward this intruder. The congregation was glad that he was going to escort this vagabond out of their church. As the old man approached him, they could all tell that there was a serious conversation going on. What happened next brought a gasp across the building. You could hear the old man’s cane hit the floor and with every effort he had, he lowered himself to the floor and sat right beside the young man…and they worshipped together.

According to Forbes.com, “Within the first seven seconds of meeting, people will have a solid impression of who you are.” Other research suggests that we start judging people within a tenth of a second of meeting them for the first time. We are all guilty of making uninformed judgements based on appearances. I wonder what we would think if we met some of the greatest people in the Bible. I wonder if any of us would recognize anyone from the Bible. Many people don’t realize that Jesus was not a White man. He was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, about six miles south of Jerusalem. He was from the middle-east and of Jewish descent. He was raised in Nazareth in Galilee (Palestine/Israel). He was the son of a carpenter and as a grown man, He often didn’t have a place to lay his head at night. You might say that at times, he was homeless. (And Jesus said unto him, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head (Matthew 8:20).

John the Baptist (Matthew 3) preached in the wilderness and wore clothes made of camel’s hair and a leather girdle. He ate locusts and wild honey. He foretold the coming of Jesus and preached repentance. He even baptized Jesus himself! I imagine that John the Baptist was a pretty rough looking character by today’s standards!

Then, we consider the Apostle Paul. He was a tentmaker. The Church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 10) even questioned his Godgiven authority. They couldn’t understand how a tentmaker by day could have the ability to help establish and lead the Church of Jesus Christ. Paul didn’t fit the mold. He didn’t TRY to fit into a mold. Paul was a humble servant; an ordinary man. He asked them to not judge him based on earthly standards, but by spiritual standards. In my opinion, the Apostle Paul was one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) missionaries of all time. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul noted that he received “40 stripes save one.” It is said that 40 stripes would kill a person. He was beaten with rods three times, he was stoned, he was in three different shipwrecks, he was robbed, beaten, hungry and thirsty, cold, naked, and even imprisoned. Yet, he persevered and counted it joy to suffer for the cause of Christ. Did you catch the part where Paul went to prison? What would we think if an ex-convict showed up to church? What if someone showed up on a Harley? Tattooed? Earrings? What if a former prostitute showed up at church? Jesus died so that ALL could come to repentance. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So many people say that they will get cleaned up before they go to church; before they “get right.” You can’t clean a fish before you catch it. I picture our sinful lives as a messy suitcase with stuff falling out and strewn all over the place. We try to keep it all together, but somehow, we just can’t do it. So we bring it all…the good, the bad, the ugly, and the terrifying…to the foot of the cross. We confess our sins and HE forgives us of our sins. But, we have to give it ALL to Him. He cleans us up on the inside. If the outside was what got us into Heaven, I wouldn’t stand a chance. No, I don’t have tattoos. I don’t have earrings. Most of the time, I am not unkempt. But some of my best friends don’t fit into a mold, and they are just as saved as I am. They too, know Jesus Christ as their Savior. He came to Earth to save the lost. That’s us. ALL of us.

Avery Lawrence is the Pastor of Persimmon Baptist Church. Avery is a native of Rabun County and has a great love for Jesus and passion to share the gospel. Avery is the assistant principal at Rabun County Middle School and is loved by all. He is married to Nawana and is step-dad to Casi Best, but more than that he is “Poppy” to Anni and Homer Liam.

I believe it is time that we start loving the way Jesus loves. I read another story about a young man who had surrendered his life to Christ and wanted to join a church. Congregation after congregation turned him down because he just didn’t fit in. Finally, after yet another church refused to let him join, he broke down. He sat in the parking lot praying and asking God why none of the churches would let him in. It was then that God audibly spoke to him. “Don’t worry son, I’ve been trying to get in there for years. They won’t let me in either.”

Do I look like a Christian? By whose standards?