Bringing Christ to the world means going out and washing feet. We reveal whom we follow through our love, service, kindness, gestures and words. We are called to be witnesses to Christ, disciples of Christ, sheep of his flock — not border collies nipping at the edges to push in the flock in or keep others out. If we witness well, we can witness anywhere. Our witness is dependent not upon our profession, but on how we live out that profession. How we treat each person we engage with during a day reveals the reality of our faith. 

Some time back, I was watching students walking to the front doors of the public high school where I teach, and it struck me that each child on my school roster is someone I’ve been called to serve. I saw their faces. He is part of the body of Christ. So is she. So is he. So is he. I could name them, and I knew that these were my students to serve, to be a witness to by how I treated them. The reflection expanded beyond the moment and kept echoing back to me throughout the day. Each driver on the road next to me is someone I should treat with respect. Each phone solicitor is still a soul beloved of God whom I should not mock or lose patience with for making me rush for the phone to hear about an extended warranty.

Following Christ means surrendering my self-righteousness in favor of selflessness. It means abandoning all animosity — even, and perhaps most importantly, the irritation that I deem justified. It also means going out into the world. We cannot be followers of Christ in a hermetically sealed bubble of preferred sensibilities. We cannot witness where we will not go. We cannot love whom we do not know, or whom we refuse to encounter. We cannot love and resent the same soul. We cannot serve those we cannot endure. We cannot love God and resent those he created. We must choose to imitate the radical love of a crucified God.

Selling everything to follow him is not about having only one cup or pair of shoes (though it may be for some), but about having nothing that you hold onto — no resentment, no fear, no grudges, no entitlement, no demands for honor, no claim to justification for your own goodness. We must abandon all of it like excessive wealth, like excessive things, simplifying our soul so that all that is left is love of God and neighbor. 

When we see persons as persons, and things as things, we will have treasure in Heaven. What’s more, when we step out of the church, our love will be visible in our lives in the slightest encounter. They will know we are Christians by our love, and they will want to know the Christ we love as a result.