We had just begun fostering our son, Cruz when we took him to his first football game as a coach’s kid. A fan started screaming at my husband, “Man up, Roberts. When are you going to man up?” Cruz looked at me and said, “Hey Miss Sarah, that guy is saying your last name.”
As much as I wanted to tell the fan what I was thinking, I had to remember who I was representing: Team Roberts and more importantly Team Jesus. When we live in the sports world, there are always going to be disagreements among our coaching staff, among fans, and our own family. In Philippians, we see a little disagreement between two ladies Euodia and Syntyche. They were in the ministry, preaching the good news about Jesus, but they found themselves arguing with one another openly. However, Paul had encouraging words in response to their actions:
"Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News." - Philippians 4:2-3
Like the women in Philippians, we will spend a lot of our lives in disagreements and arguments; that doesn’t change just because we are Christians, but what should change is how we handle the disagreements. As followers of Christ, there are things we do "because we belong to the Lord."
We’re not only supposed to act differently, but we’re also supposed to react differently. The way we live, communicate, and handle disagreements reflects who or what our focus is, and "because we belong to the Lord" our focus is should be Christ and not ourselves. So when you find yourself in a disagreement or argument with others, remember that you represent Christ, and ask yourself how Christ would want you to respond. Be empowered to show others Him through your actions!
