Being Jesus: Hands + Feet + Voice – Missional Challenge

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Looking at the pile of used ballet shoes in my daughter’s room brings the realization that I would never be able to spend a day in her shoes. Then I look at her feet and I see how brutal dancing has been on each one. It’s amazing to me what dancers endure!

I’ve never tried on a pair of pointe shoes. I’ve never wanted to.

Yet somehow I know if I did, I would have a much better understanding of what it means to be a ballerina.

Followers of Jesus Christ are often encouraged to be the hands and feet of Jesus. This is a figurative way of describing what it means to incarnate the gospel. Essentially, being Jesus’ hands requires that I serve like Jesus, that I care for others like Jesus, that I would be Jesus to someone in a tangible way.

Being Jesus’ feet means that I would go where Jesus would go. I would follow Him into the most needy places, as well as to parties and spiritual gatherings. My feet would be walking where Jesus walked.

I think there a lot of Christians that are choosing to be Jesus’ hands and serve like Jesus AND to be Jesus’ feet and to go where Jesus would go. This is fantastic! And we need more Christians to stop thinking it’s enough to go to church on Sunday and hang out with other Christians. Followers of Jesus need to head out and truly follow Jesus into the darkness of the world to tangibly meet needs.

But that’s not enough! To “Be Jesus” to those in the culture around you, you must also choose to be the voice of Jesus. This requires saying what Jesus would say.

I used to hear Christians say, “I witness with my life.” That statement became an excuse for not sharing the message of the gospel or calling sinners to repent and believe. Is that what Jesus did? Did He just go where the hurting people were and serve them? No. He actually called people to follow Him. He directed them to repent – to turn from their sin. He literally said, “Go and sin no more.”

I think it’s time for Christians to incarnate the gospel by being Jesus’ hands, feet and voice!