Bible Thumper

James 5:20 -- "Remember this; Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

Donning the thick, insulated "freezer coat" packed full with goose-down, Brian zipped up and headed into the giant walk-in freezer. He had three pallets to shelve and had already instructed his team to get started on the dairy isle. Once his two slip-proof booted feet were inside the cold and his breath billowed out in a fog however, he realized that - once again, he had to re-shelve the freezer before he could shelve it. The stock team working the shift prior to his often had their hands full of customers, and did not always have the time to keep the freezer up to organized snuff. B is a whiz at keeping the freezer up to organized snuff. Working the overnight shift - he is not overwhelmed with a busy store packed with shoppers ticking off their longs lists at the same time they are trying to become familiar with the brand new facility. It can be pretty chaotic. By the time B clocks in - he's got his hands full and usually hits the ground running to get everything done before day light breaks and the storm of hungry shoppers blows through all over again.

Elbow deep in all things frozen, B is joined in the frost by one of the people on his team. [to protect his privacy, I will call him J.] J has his hands full at home. Brian is a good listener. As J pours out heart and soul and fights back tears, Brian says: "there's a verse for that" and takes a moment to share it with his heart-weary friend. J, with nothing but affection for B, says: "I thought the Bible Thumper would be able to help."

Bible Thumper. That's what they call Brian. A name that was first called out in good, easy-going humor has been adopted by some fellow "overnighters" and is often thrown at Brian with intent to sting. Some will even walk away and leave the room to avoid any potential Biblical applications to whatever situation they may be discussing at the time. As they turn their backs, they hurl out "here comes Bible Thumper".

Consumed by frustration, and not a little anger by the use of this nick name, Brian exploded one evening while sitting on the couch on family movie night. "If one more person calls me Bible Thumper, I'm gonna' take my Bible and thump him over the head with it." 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's not really what Jesus had in mind when He instructed us to share God's Word. Trying to stifle a laugh working it's way up to the back of my throat - I addressed the more serious part of Brian's exasperated expression. I am very proud of my oldest. I could not beam any brighter - knowing his co-workers call him Bible Thumper. Not able to shadow him 24/7 [more's the pitty says one Mom] as he goes about his daily life I do not have the opportunity to see him interact with other people while he's at work. Until his outburst in the living room, I was completely unaware that he verbalizes his habit of applying scripture to nearly everything in his life. I pray a silent word of gratitude. In my head I am grinning from ear to ear while shaking pom poms and jumping up and down on the side lines of the in-zone. SCORE!!

Desperately trying to keep a straight face, I inform him that he will NOT take his Bible to work with the intent to hit some one with it. Though, that WOULD be an entertaining thing to witness and I must admit that there are moments when I wish I could do just that. Hit someone over the head with my Bible. If they don't get it verbally, maybe they'll magically get it through Osmosis. Especially if I hit them hard enough.

James reminds us how very important it is for us to do what God has told us to do. We who are in the know - we followers of Jesus Christ - may be the only light that some will ever see. We may be
the only thing between a person and an eternity away from God. And while there are moments within which we may feel sheer frustration and fatigue while fighting what seems like an uphill battle - the fire behind the words spoken by James is LOVE.

It is not anger that drives James to remind people to share Jesus Christ. It was not anger that drove Jesus to the cross. It was love.

That is NOT to say that there aren't moments when it is, indeed, anger that we experience when faced with some anti-Christian challenges. Jesus himself experienced anger on the steps of God's Temple when he witnessed how man could be so blatantly disrespectful by using a holy place to make a profit. But it is love that inspired God's Living Word. It is love that God gives us when we least deserve it. It should be love, when we reach out to share that Word with others.

What do we do when we see a loved one make terrible life choices that don't reflect Jesus? What do we do when we watch a fellow church member slip and fall into sinful behavior? What do we do when we see that a fellow Christian is NOT doing something that we KNOW God has instructed him to do? Is our RE-action anger? Disgust? Pride?

How very, very blessed are we that Jesus does not hit US over the head with God's Word? There are very surly times when I'm certain that He must feel like it.