MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

The President's Corner

(Oct-Dec 2006)

This scenario happens every so often to me. My reactions differ each time, but most often, I find it humorous. I received a phone call from a man who the caller ID identified as representing a Hispanic organization. My secretary being out on a personal matter, I answered the phone.

"Ah, hello, may I speak with a Dr. Julian Luis Suarez?" the caller asked. "Speaking," I replied. A long silence with some guttural undertones as the caller regrouped his thoughts before proceeding. They always do. You see, my great grandparents emigrated from Spain, settling in Argentina. My grandparents came to America, where my father was born in El Paso, TX (but grew up outside Buenos Aries, Argentina). My mother was an Irish Michigander. I loved my parents deeply, and they gave me a rich heritage. Yet, even today, my name causes callers to make assumptions about who I am before they call. When they hear my voice, it doesn’t fit their pre-conception of who I should be, so they stumble at first before they proceed (often half-heartedly) to inform me of whatever event, fundraiser, government program, etc... that drove their initial contact. What they thought they should have encountered was not what they encountered.

This simple slice of life always causes me to reflect on a much more profound truth of life and living. Do people who come in contact with Julian Luis Suarez, the Christian, encounter someone who does not fit their expectation of a Christian? This is much more important than ethnic heritage, for this is a matter of eternal testimony and salvation. If I am not being what I should be before a lost and dying world, I cannot effectively witness the life-changing power of the Gospel to them, either in word or deed. I must be vigilant to produce a testimony that is consistent with what my "callers of life" encounter in me. The last thing I want them to assume is that I am not who I declare I am!

What does your life say?