Silent

"Jesus replied, 'Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. " - Mark 9:39-41

"Be excellent to one another" - Bill S. Preston, Esq.

In a previous post, I talked about how, as Christians, we are more alike than different - that the way we choose to celebrate Jesus's life isn't as important as the mere fact that we are celebrating his life. He's now reminding us that, though we may agree with that point, we need to show it as much as think it. That we need to help other Christians when we can and, in doing so, we continue to demonstrate our Christianity to the world.

This doesn't mean that we ignore non-Christians, however. By helping those that are not followers of Christ, we are a living, breathing representation of the life Christ led. And we should do this in all endeavors in our lives - not that, every time we pick up a piece of trash we proclaim we're cleaning up in the name of the Lord. But rather, we should try to live our lives like Christ, as a silent witness to what drives us to do better in the eyes of God.

No doubt it's hard - even when we're talking with fellow Christians. As I wrote in the past, I've recently started teaching 2nd grade religion class, and Wednesday night was my first "official" attempt at teaching 7-8 year olds the finer parts of Catholicism. And I was surprised at how easy it was to talk about and share my faith with them (when I wasn't stopping them from wrestling with one another). It seemed infinitely easier to share it with them than others of my own age. I suppose it's because I was there (and expected to) teach - something that rarely happens in my everyday life. 

But it doesn't always have to be about talking - as Jesus reminds us, simply helping out another person demonstrates our belief in what Jesus told us to do. And in some cases, it opens the door to sharing a deeper part of ourselves, so that others can experience what we know.