Wearing It on Our Sleeves
Oh the power that a small, inconsequential item can have.
Crafted from cheap, inexpensive bands of bright yellow rubber, the phrase “live strong” is stamped into each one. The bracelet is often mistaken for a rubber band. Yet it is a movement that is sweeping the nation.
Other than noticing Sen. John Kerry brandishing one on his wrist during last year’s presidential campaign and a few kids wearing them at my church, I really hadn’t taken much notice to the Lance Armstrong “Live Strong” bracelet. And why should I? Just because a politician wears one and a bunch of children are doing the same doesn’t mean that I have to. Uh oh, I am beginning to sound like my mom scolding me when I was a kid.
That all changed for me a few weeks ago. The week following Christmas I poked my head in my boss’s office to ask how his Christmas holiday had been. I didn’t hear a word he said. I couldn’t take my eyes off a shiny yellow bracelet that he was wearing on his wrist.
When he finished his holiday dissertation I asked, “Where did you get that?”
“Get what?” he replied.
“The yellow bracelet. Where did you get the yellow bracelet?”
“Oh, the bracelet. My neighbor gave me a bunch of them. It is a “Live Strong” bracelet from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.”
“What does “live strong” mean?” I asked.
My boss hypothesized, “Well, I guess it means we should live our lives strongly when the world whispers weakness and uncertainty.”
How profound. Essentially we are to stand up boldly for what we believe in when the world seems to be swirling so insidiously out of control. I thought, ‘That is something I could get behind. This is something I believe in.’ I asked my boss where I could get one.
Without hesitation he peeled the one he was wearing off his wrist and handed it to me. I wavered, not sure of what to make of his bold gesture. He insisted saying that he had several more at home and only two wrists. I took it and my life has not been the same since.
How corny and melodramatic does that sound? My life has not been the same since. The statement sounds like one those cheesy-sleazy 1-800 weight loss commercials. You know the ones … “I lost 97 pounds in just three weeks because of the “SafetyZone Triplex 7 weight loss cream. Just rub the cream on the areas you want to lose weight and presto the weight just falls off!” At any rate, where was I? Oh yeah … my life has not been the same since I started wearing the “Live Strong” bracelet. Let me explain.
Within hours of donning the yellowed plastic that day, people began asking me scores of questions about it. And people’s interest has not waned. I hear inquiries like:
“Why are you wearing a rubber band around your wrist all the time?”
“Do you sleep with it on?
“Shouldn’t that be wrapped around a lobster claw instead of your wrist?
“Are you a John Kerry fan?”
“Are you in some sort of trouble? I heard that those bracelets mean you are a prisoner on work release.”
Perhaps the most interesting and certainly the most important question I receive is, “What does that bracelet mean?”
Boom. It is an instant opportunity for me to explain that we are to live our lives with boldness for Christ when the world whispers weakness and uncertainty. I added the “for Christ” part because that is just part of who I am as a person.
Now, before you start rolling your eyes at the notion that I am about to suggest that we should start wearing these bracelets as a witnessing tool, I am not. Believe me, there is enough “Jesus Junk” floating around America right now as it is. I never realized that a breath mint could be used as a witnessing tool. But hey, some company out there thinks you can.
What I am suggesting is that we as Christians create some easy way for non-believers to ask us about our faith. Studies prove that the best way to share the Gospel is to meet people where they are at. And unfortunately where people are at is outside the four walls of the church. Rather than the hard sell tactics of trying to coerce someone to come to church with you where they might feel threatened and uncomfortable why not use a device that all of us are familiar with? I am speaking of casual conversations at work, on the golf course, in your neighborhood, or at your children’s school activities.
Engage people with the gospel of Jesus Christ through your character. Make people say when they pass you on the street, “Gee, you know there is something different about that guy. He always seems to be so upbeat and comfortable in his own skin. He doesn’t seem to let things bother him like most of us do.”
Be proud of who you are in your faith but more importantly allow the spirit of the living God surge through every fiber of your being. People will notice this and want to know why you approach life so differently than most. It is then that you share with them what is providing your joy.
In
it is written, “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”Obviously, our happiness in life comes and goes. There are storms in life that can sometimes quell our brightness of emotion. Our feelings can become clouded at times but it is important to remember that our joy is founded in God’s strength. The knowledge that He is in control of our lives remains constant. Joy in knowing He is our Lord overcomes all sorrow.
Even though we feel sorrow and suffering, we can still offer our praise and thankfulness for saving us to God. Joy flows from an inward calm, a simple belief and trust in Him. Our joy is constant, giving us hope so that we might share that with those whose lives have been darkened by sin and worldly demands.
In essence we should be wearing our faith on our sleeves like a “Live Strong bracelet”. As the song lyric pleads, people should know we are Christians by our love. Opportunities certainly do exist in each and every one of our lives to live with boldness for Christ when the world whispers weakness and uncertainty.
Won’t you live strong today?
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