Have you ever warned someone to stay away from a person or group?
There are indeed people who are best avoided, not necessarily because they are irredeemable (though some are), but because of the weakness of those they will influence if given opportunity. The evil person knows that his ways are a stench to good people, so the chances of him developing a sanitised exterior are high. Though many may come to consider him harmless, it is when they become his victims that they wake up.
By contrast, your Christian ways and motives are to be laid out for all to see. Like Paul, you want people to Follow you as you follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). You are, as Christ calls you, “The Light of the World” (Matthew 5:16). All your words and deeds reflect the True Light of the Son of God who lives in you.
No Christian can afford to see themselves as anything other than an Ambassador for Christ. One who never stops speaking and acting as an envoy sent forth to personally represent our Sovereign Lord.
Avoidable mistakes can hinder your work as the Lord’s representative. Though Peter learned from his mistakes, he would never have done them in the first place if he had his time over. Peter, the man who slept while Jesus agonised in prayer, and later wept with intense regret after he had denied his Lord, spoke from personal experience when he wrote:
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8).
May we all rise to each new day praying, “Lord, make me someone whom others will follow in the same way that I follow Christ.”
John Staiger