Presentation Matters
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Presentation Matters
Genesis 22:1-14
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42
In a movie called The Pursuit of Happiness, Will Smith plays the character of a man named Chris Gardner. Today Chris Gardner is a successful business man and motivational speaker. However, in the 1980’s he struggled with homelessness and caring for his toddler son. He sought an opportunity at a competitive internship at Dean Witter for the potential opportunity as a stock broker. The night before his interview he was arrested over some unpaid parking tickets. He had to spend the night in jail and before that he was painting his apartment. So, he gets out of jail in the morning and has no time to clean up and change for his interview so he just goes as he is. The board takes one look at him and they are definitely taken aback by his appearance. He tells them that he had been trying to think up some great story to tell them why he is dressed the way he is but he decides to tell them the truth. The chairperson asks him, “suppose I have a man come in for an interview with out a shirt and I end up hiring him anyway what would you say about that?” To which Chris replies, “Then he must have on some really nice pants.” To which the entire board laughs and they end up giving him the internship opportunity despite his appearance. The point to all of this is that presentation matters. While Chris Gardner was probably not the most presentable in the way he looked and the way he was clothed he made up for it in how he presented himself professionally in his personality. Presentation can be a make it or break it factor in many different situations in our lives.
In our story from Genesis this morning God asks Abraham to present him a sacrifice. This is something that Abraham has done many times before as a means to worship the Lord. However, this time is different. This time God is asking him to present his only son. Yes, he had a son named Ishmael too but he was not part of the promise and was also sent away. Isaac was supposed to be part of the promise that God made to Abraham to make his offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abraham must choose though to trust in God or to give in to his flesh and protect the life of his son. Abraham with a heavy heart chooses obedience to God over the life of his son. Abraham pulls all the stops to make an altar and plans to sacrifice his son. He presents himself in total obedience and trust in God. Upon seeing this God is pleased and stops him from killing Isaac. This is all because of his presentation to the Lord. I think what this also shows to Isaac is that God can be trusted and that God is good and faithful when he presents himself holy and obedient.
Romans 6:12-23, tells us how we are to present ourselves before the Lord, before other Christians, and before those living in the world as the world lives. The scriptures say, “do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” What it is saying here is that presentation matters. How you present yourself to others and to God matters. If we continue in the ways we behaved while we were sinners under the law then we are not presenting ourselves as righteous and we are not presenting ourselves as Christ followers. In turn if we present ourselves in such ways and we do not allow our heart to change then how can we expect the grace given to us to cover our sins and our faults that just keep on going. Paul asks the question, “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!” We have the choice to offer ourselves as slaves to sin which will lead to death or as slaves to obedience which leads to righteousness. We all have the choice of the path in which we would like to take. No one forces us to take one or the other. We are just given the fore knowledge of where each path leads in the end.
The interesting thing is that there are still many who will choose the path that leads to death and will refuse the path that leads to life. Unfortunately, many will base their decision of this based on their experience of other Christians. One of the greatest enemies of Christianity is other Christians, in a lot of ways because of the way they present themselves. Presentation matters. One of the greatest excuses for non-Christians defending their choice to not believe is because of the hypocritical Christians in the world. Those who claim that they are Christian but do not seem to act the part. The problem with that excuse though is that the hypocritical Christian is still closer to the kingdom of God than the person making that excuse for their non-belief. However, this does still does not mean that it is ok for Christians to participate in the unholy ways of their former life.
There are also Christians who seem over saved. Christian comedian Michael Jr. talks about over saved Christians in some of his comedy routines. He talks about Christians who can just be a little over the top. For example, you might be thirsty and you are telling that person hey I’m thirsty, you thirsty and the respond saying, “yeah thirsty for the Lord.” Or he mentions how maybe you can’t find your keys and they say something like “you need the keys to the kingdom.” I say that all in jest but I believe there are some Christians out there who seem over saved in that they seem stuck up goodie goodies and display no love and no grace for the lost. Such Christians put legalistic requirements on people and leave little room for love, grace, and transformation. These are the people who aim at perfection for themselves and in a lot of ways shun themselves from anything in the world. This too can turn off non-believers because it really doesn’t look like much fun. While holiness and obedience are important there also must be humility to understand that we are not perfect yet we daily choose to grow closer to God and to allow him to daily transform us into Christ’s likeness.
At each extreme of Christianity, we can end up being a stumbling block for non-believers. This is why presentation is so important. Are we presenting ourselves as hypocritical believers who still act like heathens, or are we presenting ourselves as stuck up, legalistic, goodie goodies that never have any fun in life? Neither way is really in the likeness of Christ. Jesus displayed humility and love while still calling out the sins of the world. He showed the world a pathway towards righteousness and forgiveness based not on our own merit but his own. He showed us a way in which we may love people where they are at and point for them a pathway that will lead to the person that they can become. All of this starts with our presentation. So, the question I have today is what kind of presentation have you been making. Can people tell that you are a Christian by the way you act and talk or do you seem just like every other person in the world. Do you seem snobby and stuck up and seem to lack any grace, or do you present yourself as someone who has humility and love? Presentation matters and there is a reward for good presentation as well. Matthew 10:40-42 says,
Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.
Those who present themselves as someone who welcomes Christ and welcomes the truth will receive a great reward. Those who present themselves before God and before others s humble, righteous, and obedient, will receive a great reward. Christ was righteous and obedient even unto death. We may not all be required to go as far as Christ did but those who do will receive a great reward all because of how they present themselves before God and before man. Presentation matters. It is a reflection of your soul. How are you presenting your self today?