From the second our eyes lock on someone, in less than 1/100 of a second, our brain has already formed a first impression about a stranger. It takes 3 to 4 times longer to blink! In business, at work, and in professional settings, there are certain expectations of what you should wear or not wear, the way you keep your hair, and your hygiene is undoubtedly important. But even in casual settings, though it’s more than just how you dress, people’s first impression of you is the image of you that they will carry with them. Image is everything.
A Harvard study revealed that it typically takes eight subsequent positive encounters to change another person’s negative opinion of you. So make sure that first impression is a good one. Image is everything.
How To Minister Like Jesus
This heading is what this blog is about today. But in order to minister like Jesus there are some important factors about ‘image’ that must be understood. But to understand about image, let’s take a look at us. Our purpose.
The Purpose of Mankind
Genesis 1:26-28 NIV
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
So there are five keys to our purpose – the 5 R’s:
- Be in a Relationship with God. He created us for that reason. Once this is in place, we have four assignments starting with the second key to our purpose.
- Reflect that IMAGE
- Reproduce that IMAGE
- Refill the earth with that IMAGE. Okay so I could have just used the word “fill” here but then it would have been the 4 R’s and 1 F instead of the 5 R’s. Doesn’t sound as good.
- Rule the earth as ambassadors in that IMAGE
Understanding the Purpose and the Nature of Mankind
With that very brief summary of our purpose, it’s also important to understand our nature. Let’s keep it simple. When things are not going well at home, does your day at work or school get any easier? No, it doesn’t. Whether it’s not feeling good health-wise, mentally, or emotionally, or in our relationships with family, it makes for a tougher ‘rest of the day.’
Which is what the Hebraic view of man is, an integrated whole. In other words, if one part of our life is out of whack, it affects all other parts of our life. That’s why Jesus, God in the flesh, lived a ‘balanced life’ while here on earth. He couldn’t fully operate His plan if any areas of His life were out of whack.
Luke 2:52 NIV
52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Jesus lived a whole life – mentally (wisdom), physically (stature), spiritually (in favor of God), and socially (in favor of mankind).
So sickness (not being whole) in any one of these areas will negatively affect all of the other areas. And in the same way wholeness in any one of these areas will have positive effects on the other areas. Good news, no matter what area of our life, lifts us up and spurs us on!
How to Minister Like Jesus Part 1 – Next Week, Part 2
As I am getting into this I want to keep it pretty simple. There is more I would like to share in helping us to better understand about how to minister like Jesus. But as a start, I hope you understand that when our life is out of balance it certainly becomes a distraction in us being able to reflect Christ to others.
Challenge of the Week
Until Part 2, coming next week, your challenge is to look at your whole life according to Luke 2:52. Rate each of those areas on a scale of 1-10. 10 being perfect and 1 meaning it needs a lot of work. Rate your mental/emotional life (wisdom) and if you rate it a 7, what would make it an 8? Then rate your physical life (physcial), your spiritual life (in favor with God) and your social life (in favor with man). Then access what it would take to make each area one point better. This will give you a good view of how balanced, or out of balance your life is. The more balanced, the more like Jesus you become. So be it!
