Deer In The Headlights

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Yet, there they were...right in front of me, as clear as day. Three, full-grown, brown deer were walking down the sidewalk in Hyde Park, smack dab in the middle of the afternoon.

It was an incredible sight.

I mean, you EXPECT to see deer at the edge of the woods.

It's no big deal to see them early in the morning eating the spring flowers in your garden. If you spot them in the shadows at dusk, waiting for the perfect moment to dart across the road in front of your moving car, you are never surprised.

You wouldn't bat an eye if you saw them at the front of Santa's sleigh, or at the zoo, or as you hike along a trail out in the country.

These are places where deer belong.

But they do not belong in Hyde Park, strolling down the sidewalk, in the middle of the day.

Incredibly, those deer seemed almost nonchalant as they strolled along. No fear. No anxiety. No problems. They were not worried at all about who might see them there.

But to me, they stood out like a sore thumb. To me, they weren't "deer in the headlights." Instead, they WERE the "headlights."

These deer were so ridiculously out of place, they were like those big Hollywood spotlights that light up the sky at night.

"Look at us," they seemed to be saying. "We are the daytime deer of Hyde Park and we don't care who knows it!"

They were so much out of their element that they were really quite striking.

I have no idea what those deer were up to that day, or where they were going, but I do know this: They made a real impression on me. I couldn't get them out of my mind.

And the more I thought about it, the more I thought how we should try to be more like those deer ourselves.

I mean, as a Christian in the world today, are you standing out?

Is anyone noticing you?

Are you making an impression on others that will not be forgotten?

If you act like a Christian only where you are EXPECTED to act like a Christian (say, in church, or at a Christian concert or movie, or among other Christians anywhere), then you are making no more of an impact on the world than a deer at the edge of the woods.

That is where everyone expects you to be a Christian.

Your impact is minimal.

But, what if you stand out because you are a Christian at the office? At the ballgame? In the middle of rush-hour traffic on I-75?

What if you stand before the doctor without fear because you have faith that God is in control?

What if you stand beside the hospital bed of a loved one without anxiety because you trust God with the future?

What if you stand in front of the whole world and say, "Look at me! I believe in Jesus and I don't care who knows it!"

You need to ask yourself, "Am I living the kind of life that lights up the darkness of a fallen world by shining the spotlight on Jesus so everyone around me can see Him?"

That is what we are called to do as Christians.

Here is how the apostle Peter described it...

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. (1 Peter 2:9-10, The Message)

When you become a Christian, there is no secret handshake. There is no secret password or secret knock at the door.

Do you know why? Because, there should be no secret Christians.

Everything Jesus did, He did publicly. He taught in public. He healed in public. His miracles were seen in public.

He was arrested publicly, crucified publicly and appeared in public after His resurrection. When He ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, there were 120 witnesses who saw it happen.

That is why you must be a "public" Christian. You must live a life filled with Christ for all to see, so that all may see Jesus.

Dare to be different than the world around you.

Dare to be ridiculously out of place and, by doing so, make an impression on others that no one will forget, for Him.

How?

Do what those deer did...attract attention by showing the world who you are without worrying about who will see you.

Not because you walk down the sidewalk of Hyde Park in the middle of the day, but because you walk down the sidewalk of life with Jesus at your side.

When you do, everyone will notice!


Pastor Greg

The Good Gardener

Why do weeds in my garden remind me of sin in my life? Click on the title headline above and find out by listening to our "Parables Please" radio show called "The Good Gardener." Susan Cantey sings a musical parable and Andy Bartmess shares a biblical parable too.