Show and Tell was always my favorite part of elementary school. Not only did it provide an opportunity to learn more about my classmates and teachers, but it guaranteed that we would see some wacky stuff!
As kids and teachers head back to school during these weeks, I can’t help but think about the summer recaps, which often includes show and tell moments. “What did you do this summer? Where did you go? Who did you see or meet?”
I remember kids bringing in guinea pigs, a duck, a miniature horse, and other exotic pets. There were paintings, drawings, creative configurations of Legos (before design-specific models existed), as well as strange hand crafted projects. A friend of mine rode a unicycle and always took the opportunity to show off for the class. And there was the kid who always talked about his latest cut, cast, or scar.
Show and Tell is a good ritual for grown-up living, too.
Our whole lives should be a mosaic of show and tell moments, a blend of our own sharing mingled with paying attention to the lives and experiences of those around us. Our learning, our working, our relationships, and our celebrating all pivot around showing care and love to others, as we tell them what we know to be true and what we hope to learn.
Show and Tell was at the center of Jesus’ ministry. He regularly showed people the power of God’s love as he went out of his way to connect with women, men, and children. He patiently taught, lovingly healed, and then told them over and over of God’s expansive welcome and embrace. That was Jesus’ pattern of making disciples.
God calls us to make disciples in the same way. What if we incorporated more of a Show and Tell mentality into our lives? Our faith may not be hidden, but sometimes we segregate it from the rest of our lives. What if we opened ourselves to the possibility that the Holy Spirit gives us daily strength to show and tell the world of a love that extends beyond human parameters and offers us an alternate way to live?
You may remember the old camp song "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love," which states,
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love.
So often we waste our energy telling people how to behave, how to be “better Christians,” or how they should act if they want to align their lives in a more Christ-like manner. What if we refocus our efforts? What if, instead, we choose to show love? What if we return to the excitement of our youth? What if we show the world the amazing gifts that we’ve received from God and tell stories of where we see God at work, transforming and redeeming us and the world?
Showing and Telling,
Lowell