What Comes To Mind

When I hear the word ‘boss’ I think of someone in a suit who always sits behind a desk full of papers. 

Mark 11:12-26

Reference: On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves (Mark 11:15 NIV)

Explore: We all hold certain stereotypes in our heads when it comes to particular groups of people.

When I hear the word ‘accountant’, I think of a gentleman who is studious and carries pens around in the breast pocket of his shirt; when I hear the word ‘florist’, I think of a lady in a flowing dress who is always humming a tune and has clip in her hair; and when I hear the word ‘boss’, I think of someone in a suit who always sits behind a desk full of papers.

The images that come to mind for me when I hear these certain words show that I have lumped a large group of people into one stereotype. While this image may be true for a small percentage of these people, not every person who holds these titles are exactly the same.

I should know this better than anyone. For ten years I worked for a church as a minister of religion. I was far from the stereotype.

I was female, I didn’t wear long flowing dresses, I had a sense of humour, and I wasn’t over 60. Unfortunately, this is still the stereotype people have of us today.

Throw on top of that hypocritical, homophobic and judgmental and you will forming what our world thinks a Christian’s job description really is.

However, we only have one item on our job description:

* Be like Christ

Application: For us to be like Christ we often have to be more responsible and serious about the life that we lead, but that does not mean that we lose all sense of humour and start wearing floral dresses.  In fact, Mark 11 shows us a different side to Jesus that we often forget.

Jesus loved God so much that when He saw the house of God being used as a market instead of a place of worship, He took retribution into His own hands. He shows us how passionate we should get when we see injustice being done.

Let’s break the mould of a stereotypical Christian and let’s lead the way when it comes to showing undivided love for our God and His people.

Prayer: Lord, a life that follows after Your heart may be filled with challenges, but it comes with the greatest purpose and reward. Amen.

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Christian’?

Christ, injustice, Job, Mark, stereotype, title