The Jesus pinky is the new pink.
Huh?
Ok, you have every right to ask the question. I have every joy in giving you the answer. For those of you who have been with us on Youth Trips, you probably know the history of the Jesus pinky. (Hold your arm straight up, extend only your pinky finger – that’s the Jesus pinky) On past trips, we have used the “Jesus pinky” to identify where everyone in our group is. What’s weird, . . . possibly normal, is that others start asking what we are doing, while others “just do it” with us. But what is all this about?
Have you ever been the first person to do something? Have you noticed that after one person does it, it makes it ok (or at least less shameful) for the next person to do it too?
Well, on our last day at sea on the cruise boat, the musician started playing “Lord I lift Your name on high.” Up to this point on the boat, I hadn’t heard anybody clap when he finished playing a song. But after I recognized this song and he finished playing, I clapped, and so did another person. Then he played “How Great Thou Art,” at which point several more people started singing along, and at the end even more people clapped. He only had a few Christian songs, but every song received applause and the Lord was praised at sea.
The moral of the story is that we should not be ashamed of who we are and what we believe. There were numerous Christians on that boat, but only a few were not ashamed to step up and show their beliefs. Had one of us not showed our “Jesus pinky” (or our Christian belief), others may not have spoken up as well. Unfortunately this is what often happens in America. We are ashamed of what we believe and are too cautious to take a stand sometimes.
Yet, in Romans 10:11 we find that “The Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will never be ashamed.’”
The bad news for those who are ashamed came from Jesus when in Mark 8:38, Jesus said “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My Words…, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Think twice the next time that you think about not speaking up . . . .
Declare the Lord God, YOUR Lord and Savior!
Hold up your Jesus pinky, declare Him your God, and make known to America that Christianity is still alive.
What was really great about this experience on the ship for me was that I was reading the book, “The Shack” when the musician started playing the Christian music. The part of the book I was in was really speaking to my heart at the time and when the music started playing, I really felt the presence of God beside me. I began to cry joyful tears because I knew God was with us on that ship. God was proud of James for being the first to speak up for Him!