In my previous post, “For His Name’s Sake,” I talked about how a Christian’s conduct has a direct effect upon Christ’s reputation with the lost people of this world. Summing up the situation, a Christian’s sinful conduct does harm to Christ’s name. Now let me give you an example to illustrate this truth. Like the exaggerated examples Jesus loved to use, this hypothetical story will be on the extreme side.

Let’s say that a husband and wife, neither of whom is a Christian, go to buy a used car. They drive to a local dealership and find a car that looks good to them. As if he is reading their minds, a salesman suddenly appears from the office and makes his way out to them. He says, “You folks have a good eye. Just between you and me, this car is the best buy on the lot. It is mechanically as sound as a dollar. I wouldn’t mind taking off cross country in it. And if you’ll finalize the deal today, I’ll knock an extra $500 off the asking price.”

Even as those words roll from the salesman’s lips, however, he knows he is lying. His mechanics have told him the car’s engine needs to be completely rebuilt. Ignorant of this inside information, the husband and wife take the car out for a test spin, and the car does alright on that short test drive. Arriving back at the lot, the couple talk between themselves briefly, after which the husband tells the salesman, “We’ll take it. The salesman says, “Great. Step into my office and we’ll sign the papers.”

As they walk into the office, the husband notices that hanging on the salesman’s office wall is a beautiful picture of Jesus. He also notices that sitting on the salesman’s desk is a little plaque that says: “Christ is the answer.” The husband says to the salesman, “I gather that you are a Christian.” The salesman says, “Oh yes. I’ve been a deacon in my church for twenty years.”

The husband says, “Well, my wife and I aren’t very religious, but I guess we can trust a deacon.” The salesman says, “Absolutely! You can trust me. Even though this car is just a little bit too old to have any kind of warranty, I’ll take care of you. If you have any trouble with it, just bring it back to me. I’ll make things right. You have my personal guarantee on that.”

So, the papers are signed and the deal is done. The husband and wife just bought themselves a car. The husband climbs into it, starts it up, and pulls off the lot while his wife falls in behind him in the car they drove to the lot. But the husband only gets about five miles up the road before smoke starts pouring out from under the hood of his car. Luckily for him, there is a service station right there on the corner. He pulls into the station, and a mechanic pops the hood and takes a look at the car’s engine. The mechanic says, “Sir, I hate to tell you this, but this motor is completely shot. It needs a total rebuild.”

Upon hearing that, the man immediately gets into the car with his wife, who has followed him to the service station, and tells her, “Take me back to that car lot. I’m going to have a word with that salesman.” The wife obliges, and the husband storms into the salesman’s office. He points his finger at the salesman and says, “You sold me a lemon. I drove that car about five miles and the motor blew up. I want you to keep your word and make things right.”

And how does that used-car salesman/deacon respond? He says, “Sir, I feel awful about this, but our policy is that all sales are final and that car doesn’t have a warranty. So, I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do for you.”

You say, “Boy, that husband and wife won’t think much of that Christian salesman.” You’re right, they won’t. I’ll tell you something else: They won’t think much of Christ either! They’ll say, “If that’s what being a Christian is all about, the Christians can have it. We can do better than that on our own. Who needs a Savior who produces that kind of behavior in His people?”

The takeaway lesson from this story, Christian, is that you are called to live your faith wherever you happen to be at the time. This means that if you go around claiming to be a Christian, you’d better act right. If you have a tag that says “Christ Is My Co-Pilot,” you’d better be honest. If you have a bumper sticker that says “Honk, If You Love Jesus,” you’d better pay your bills. If you wear a shirt that says “My Best Friend Is A Jewish Carpenter,” you’d better watch your language. Why? It’s because Christ’s reputation is at stake by way of your behavior!

You can call this “Christianity in shoe leather.” It is you bringing your Christianity out of the clouds of doctrine. It is you pulling your religion up from your church seat. It is you transitioning your spirituality from principle to practice.

How do you do this? Every day that you wake up you spend time in prayer, saying, “Jesus, today, wherever I go, whatever the day holds for me, lead me in the paths of righteousness. You be My guiding shepherd and help me be your obedient sheep. Don’t let me do anything today that will bring shame to Your name.” Once you start praying like that and living out that prayer, you’ll find yourself walking in those paths of righteousness. And that will not only be beneficial to you and others, it will be beneficial to Jesus as His good name will not be muddied by your ungodly behavior.