For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own Glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. Luke, Chapter 9, verse 26.
This relates to a situation that made a major difference in my relationship with God. One time, I was doing something that was an outward sign of my faith. It was in a place where other people could see what I was doing and would have known I am a Christian. I’m ashamed to say that this had made me really uncomfortable.
The thought in my mind shortly after this was about the movie “American Graffiti”. One of the main characters had been in charge of keeping an eye on a young pre-teen or teenage girl. He had a reputation of being “cool” and didn’t like being a glorified babysitter. Later, he and the young lady got to know each other better and became friends. Then there was a point in the movie where he was driving down the main drag and he saw a group of his friends. He realized that they would see him with this young girl and it could hurt his “cool image” if they knew he was babysitting. So he asked his new found friend to duck down in the seat so his other friends wouldn’t see her sitting in his car, thus maintaining his reputation.
Well, that’s what I was doing with God. I was saying to God, “You are really important to me and I love you a lot, but I don’t want other people to know how important You are to me. I want to look ‘cool’ to others and don’t want them to think I’m a religious fanatic. So, God, please duck down so they don’t know I’m a Christian.”
As an American Graffiti Christian, this movie impacted my life and my relationship with God because it helped me realize that I used to shy away from mentioning anything about God or my faith to anyone. I can’t say it’s all that easy for me now, because I’m still very weak and have a hard time risking ridicule from others. I do try to say things like, “Boy, God was really looking after you,” when there was a miracle in someone’s life that they may have overlooked.
When I do this, I’m generally anxious because I never know how anyone is going to respond to these statements. I’m always afraid that they are going to think I’m a fanatic and shy away from me, but I have never received that response from anyone. In fact, people have been very appreciative and it has opened up opportunities for the other person to share their perspective of how God has influenced their life. I need to continue to focus on being more willing to take risks for God. I would never want Him to turn His back on me the way I have done to Him.
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
