Generic Christian

Generic Christian

Contents may vary in

Color, size, shape and texture.

Esther 4:12-14

12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 

14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

   There was a short-lived fad in the 70s and 80s of buying generic foods.  They came in plain white wrappers with blocky black lettering.  Usually there was a note on the labels that read, “Contents may vary in color, size, shape and texture.”  This type of food was simply food that was good enough to eat but was not good enough to be classified Grade A.  Perhaps the tomatoes did not have a uniform color.  The macaroni might not have been all the same size.  The eggs might not have been all "egg-shaped."  My mother once bought a bag of flour that was only coarse ground.  It looked a little strange, but still baked into some good doughnuts. 

   The surprising thing about generic foods was that most of them tasted pretty good.  They did what they were made to do - feed hungry families for less money than name brands.          

   Most Christians I know are what you might call Generic Christians, and we should have a tag on us reading, “Contents may vary in age, education, experience or talents.”  We have different colors, and are different sizes, and have different shapes, and have more (or less) wrinkles than others around us.  But we all have the same family; we're all children of the same Father, we are all called Christians.  Our purpose is to do what we are called to do and do it as well as we can and minister to as many as we can in the time we have.

   Spoiler alert!  God does not expect us to be perfect.  He expects us to do our best with the knowledge we have been entrusted with.  And if you fail, He expects us to pick ourselves up and try again. 

   Joseph was a generic young dreamer, sold into slavery.  God took him from his prison and made him the second most powerful man in the most powerful kingdom of its time.

   Moses was a generic old man over 80 years old who stuttered.  God took him to Egypt to lead His people out of slavery. 

   David was a generic young man sitting on the side of a hill tending sheep and singing songs.  God took him to the throne of Israel to lead His people.

   Daniel was a generic prince who was in chains and taken to a foreign city.  God made chief advisor to the most powerful king in the world and later to the one who conquered Babylon.

   Esther was a generic young woman.  God took her to the palace to make her a queen and used her to save His people from destruction. 

   Remember the words of what Esther's uncle Mordecai:  “Who knows if you have come to be where you are for such a time as this?”   We may be Generic Christians, but we can do awesome things if we let God work through us.

Stephen Cram                                            August 31, 2014

Colossians 2:8

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ. 

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.