Whom Is A Child Of God To Resemble?

My last few months in North Carolina and my first months in Florida, I have been attending very large churches. For me, one of the greatest teaching points in this has been: whom is a child of God to resemble. Having come from smaller congregational settings, I was used to being surrounded by the majority of worshippers who, mostly, matched me. By placing myself in much larger settings, God has opened my squinting eyes. Bottom line, I’ve come to understand that children of God are not to resemble me. They are called to reflect the image of God. Come beside me as I share one of the diverse images I came to realize deeply reflects our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

My initial, rather shocking, revelation pivoted around tattoos. My olden “prim and proper” nature automatically assumed all tattoos were a sign of borderline rebellion, at its best, and full blown insurrection at its worst. Never did I put tattoos in the realm of belief in the Resurrection. However, an eye opener stared me down via an on stage music leader. His passion for Christ oozed out of every note he sang. In a matter of seconds, he escalated my emotional worship energy. It was a few weeks before it even dawned on me his outer skin was inked. Up until that moment, all I had witnessed was his love of God inspiring me, and the whole congregation, to join in choruses of Divine praise. Suddenly, I was questioning the short sightedness of my automatic tattoo conclusions.

My eyes began to look around the congregation. The family of God surrounding me was so very large and, quite naturally, was not anywhere close to a 100% clone of the “prim and proper”. However, upon closer observation, I concluded all were to be included in the reflection of God’s children. I witnessed universal hearts loving, and souls praising, God — no matter what outside appearance each portrayed. Wow, was I convicted; and, yes, I felt a big ouch!!! Children of God are to resemble God, not me or any of my preconceived notions.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. All churches, no matter their size, will be overflowing with worshippers. Will you join me in forgetting about where our blind, pigeon hole eyes might guess their belonging — or not belonging? Let’s, instead, look for God (not ourselves) in others. Above all, let us remember, we are not to make our own preconceived conclusions; “for God does not show favoritism”. Romans 2:11 (NLT)