I've been babysitting for over a year now. And if there's one thing I've learned about babysitting, it's how much you learn about people from babysitting for them.
When you hire a babysitter, you're leaving them in your home expecting them to care for your child in the same way that you would care for them yourself. Which means for your babysitter to do that, your house basically becomes their house. And that's something that a lot of people probably don't fully think about.
When your babysitter is looking for a television show to put on for your child or for a movie to play for them, they see your favorite shows and the DVDs that you watch. When they're preparing breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks for your child, they're going through your pantry, your refrigerator, and your kitchen cabinets. They're sitting in your living room, surrounded by your family pictures. And if you have toddlers on the go that wander the moment a head is turned, your babysitter might even see your bedrooms. The truth is that honestly, your child's babysitter probably knows you a lot better than you realize.
But what a babysitter will learn most about you comes from your child. Sure, once a child begins talking, they share whatever comes into their little minds and often without filter. But to a perceptive babysitter, it's more than that. For example, a perceptive babysitter will see a sweet, very obedient and well-mannered child and will watch the child give its stuffed animal a spanking when it gets in trouble or put it in time-out. And a perceptive babysitter will see the correlation and recognize that that child receives healthy discipline and correction.
Yesterday, I was watching a sweet little four-year-old. I've known her family for about nine and a half years so you could say I know them fairly well. I know the kind of people her mommy, her grandparents, her aunt, and her uncles are.
And when this four-year-old spontaneously hopped down from her chair while eating snack to give me big hugs around my waist, I knew that was a reflection of the kind of affection that she gives and receives on a daily basis.
Her daddy horse stuffed animal got injured in her imagination playing and I watched her rush her mommy horse to his side, exclaiming, "Oh, Honey, are you all right?!" I watched her hold the hand of her stuffed elephant and reassure him as I stitched up a hole on his face. And I watched the love in her eyes and in her soft voice as she mothered her babies- her stuffed animals. In those moments, I saw myself in her as a little girl again and I knew that she was reflecting the kind of loving relationships she too has in her life and is surrounded by.
Because young children are a reflection of their parents and of their families.
And as believers, we're no different.
About three weeks ago, my parents and I went to lunch on our way home from church. My mom and I placed our orders and moved on to fill our three drinking cups. But as my dad ordered and paid for our meal, the employee asked him if we had just returned from church. And then he asked him a very unusual question: what had our pastor preached on that morning? My dad answered, summarizing our pastor's message, and ended inviting the young man to our church.
His brief little interaction with the employee made me question though. Typically, inquiring if a family had just come from church wouldn't be that uncommon. It was Sunday afternoon lunchtime and you can usually tell the church-goers by how they're dressed. But my parents and I weren't dressed up that time. In fact, we were dressed very casually. So what I wondered had prompted that young man to ask that question, guessing that we were church-attenders? Had he seen something in us? Something different that made him think we were Christians?
And his second question. The unusual question that had surprised my father. The young man had looked so sincere and genuinely interested as he inquired what our pastor had preached on and as he listened to my dad's reply. Had he simply but oddly just been wanting to make conversation? Or was there something deeper to his inquiry? As my dad acknowledged, it was almost something like a test: the young man knew then that we were Christians, he knew then that we went to church. But were we serious and genuine Christians? Or were we hypocritical who did the Christian thing and went to church just because it looks good and sounds right? My father's response to his inquiry would answer that question.
And what if? What if that young man had seen a difference in us and my dad hadn't been able to answer his question? If he had had to admit that he didn't know what our pastor's message had been on? What kind of testimony would that have left behind for that young man's opinion of Christian church-goers?
I left Atlanta Bread Company that afternoon being reminded that we never know who's watching us. We never know who's looking at us as a representation of believers and of Christ. We never know when someone is judging the genuineness and authenticity of our Christianity. And we never know when we'll receive an opportunity to share our faith and plant seeds in the midst of everyday conversations, everyday interactions in our everyday lives.
Because the truth is, as believers, we're no different than the young children I babysit. We are children of God and as children of God, we are a reflection of our Father and of His family- the Church, other believers. We are a reflection of Christ to the world by the things that we do, the things that we say, the love that we show, and the reactions that we present.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." -Ephesians 5:1&2
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