What Does a Christian Look Like?

Jen & Erin Augenblick Shannon

Marilyn, Will & I had dinner this past Sunday night with Jun and Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi at their home.  Jennifer (also known as Bob) was a Hall of Fame student in my youth ministry at 1st UMC- Kissimmee back in the 90s, and now they live about 5 miles from us here in Tampa.  It's always great to see them.  Bob made a wonderful dinner (featuring homemade crab cakes) and then beat us all at Trivia Pursuit (her punishment for beating me is this picture from her younger days- she's the crayon on the left!).  But it was Jun who really make my night when he told me the following story.  My memory may be a bit shaky because I was laughing so hard, but this is the general idea...


Jun & Jen help his parents operate a sushi restaurant in Clearwater, and they always have great stories about their customers.  On this occasion Jun (whose family is Japanese) was in the restaurant when he sneezed.  An older woman looked at him and asked him this awkward question: "What do you people say after a sneeze?"  Jun assured her that "God bless you" was fine.  She was a bit surprised, offering up the opinion that perhaps he would prefer "Buddha bless."  Seriously.  Jun then further surprised her by announcing that he was, in fact,  a Christian who attends church weekly and is part of a praise team.  Her response to that was this unbelievable statement:  "You don't look like a Christian..."


The 5 of us were laughing hysterically at this, and I immediately asked Jun if I could use his story.  But the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder:  How many self-proclaimed Christians are out there profiling people as non-believers because of the way they look?  We don't wear uniforms, so how do you know a Christian when you see one?  I mean, what does a Christian look like, anyway?


This is not a new issue. In fact, the root of the problem goes back many generations.  My grandparents had a very clear image of what Christian should look like.  In those days, it was assumed that everyone went to church on Sunday- and that they wore "the uniform."  Conservative hair cut, no facial hair.  White shirt and tie (and most likely a jacket) for guys,  or a dress for the ladies.  White churches were all white, black churches were all black.  Anyone who didn't fit the image obviously didn't get it.  And they were shunned by the "good" Christians.  Later on, the standards changed but the judgement didn't.  Those with long-hair, tattoos, tattered jeans and sandals were considered ragamuffins. They were allowed in church, but never truly accepted.  And in far too many places church remained the most segregated hour of the week.  The uniform might have changed to khakis and polo shirts (or shorts and flip-flops here in Florida), but people were still judged by how they looked.


So where are we today?  What in the world would cause this lady to assume Jun was not Christian because he is Asian?  Let's just cut to the chase.  I believe our basic problem is that we expect Christians to conform to the expectations of "church people" rather than the person of Jesus.  I am a 51 year old white male who attends a church full of people who are very much like me.  Some are younger, some are older and some are from different ethnic backgrounds- but mostly they are like me.  I suspect most of you do the same.  If we are not careful, we begin to see all Christians- and Jesus- in our own image, when what we should be doing is re-making ourselves in the image of Jesus.  Now THAT would scare people!  Imagine being part of a church full of Jesus Freaks running around offering love, grace and mercy to everyone they meet!   How we dress, our age, the length of our hair, the color of our skin and nationality of our parents would cease to matter.  All that would matter is loving people as Jesus taught us to love.  Who cares what a Christian looks like;  Jesus already explained what a Christ-follower is like.  The team jersey that identifies us is found in John 13:35: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  It's pretty simple.  No dress code, no judgement- just love.  


By that standard, my friend Jun certainly "looks" like a Christian to me.  He and Jennifer welcomed my family into their home, fed us crab cakes and sat and shared stories both old and new for hours.  They showed us love.  Best.  Uniform.  Ever.


Because of Jesus,