Because it looks different

The world watches the Olympics for more than the gold medals.  It is not just the back stories of defying the odds to get there, the long hard road these athletes have chosen, but something that looks very different.   Every four years, a situation transcends the races, the games, and the competition.  It is often called the "Olympic spirit," that which reveals what God's grace looks like, that which is honorable and kind and simply the right thing to do.

And like night lights in the darkness:

So also good deeds are conspicuous, 
and even when they are not, 
they cannot remain hidden. 

                      1 Timothy 5. 25 

In a qualifying heat of the women's 5k race, runner Abbey D'Agostino of Team USA and New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin collided on the course.  Both women fell.  And as she rose, Abbey leaned over and helped Nikki get to her feet and encouraged her to finish the race.

You can view it by clicking here.

What would I do?  


Be imitators of me,

    as I am of Christ.

           1 Corinthians 11. 1

Seek out godly people whom to emulate.  Watch them carefully, not that they are perfect, but transformed.  And realize, it is not just that they are "nice people," but this is what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit does to a person.
 

How they follow Jesus into their day?  Into their difficulties? What do they do?  How do they respond to need?  They don't just do different. They don't just look different. They are different.

How do they live out the gospel?

It is never the platform that we imagine
that God uses us the most.
And it is usually times we never expect,
      and may never know.

And suddenly, as in this preliminary heat,

    someone is watching you
--indeed the world may be watching--

to see the transformation

Jesus makes in you.

For who sees anything different in you?

                     1 Corinthians 3. 7

Looks a lot like Jesus to me.