Have You Been with Jesus?

After preaching recently, I received some kudos from close friends within our church family. While I appreciate these kind remarks, I always remember the saying, “You’re only as good as your last sermon!” Our fulltime pastors know well the weekly stress of sermon preparation. No sooner do you close the week’s message out with a benediction than it is time to begin the process all over again! I can remember many Sunday afternoons when my after-lunch time was spent at the computer with Bible in hand typing out the next week’s sermon outline!

Among this most recent feedback, I was surprised by one comment. This sweet lady remarked, “Pastor, I appreciated your message last Sunday. And I like your accent, too!” I wasn’t completely sure what accent she was referring to, but I ventured a guess with this reply, “You mean, as in Texas?!” And she nodded and responded, “Yes!” I then commented, “Well, you’re not the first to note that subtlety. I did spend fifteen years in Texas, and it did leave its mark on me in many ways!”

After arriving back to Illinois in 1992, one of the members of our church mentioned to me on one occasion, “You have a different way of pronouncing your wife’s name, Monique.” I thought the person was teasing me, but she was serious. I asked, “Well, what are you hearing me say?” She quickly mimicked my pronunciation by replying something foreign to me like, “MoNayke!” with the emphasis on NAY in a high-pitched way! I had never heard myself saying anything close to that, but it would soon be confirmed by others that, when I was excited it sounded just like that!

Do you think you have an accent? Upon further reflection, I have decided that I have a subtle accent from my rural southern Illinois upbringing combined with my years in the Lone Star State. There is a passage in the Bible that often comes to my mind when thinking about the influence of having an accent. This account is about the time when Peter was warming himself in the Temple courtyard after Jesus’s arrest. He would deny knowing Christ three times but was identified by a servant girl and others as a follower of Jesus because of his distinct Galilean accent.

It must have been painful in those moments for Peter to be confronted with the servant girl’s recognition as she said, “You were with Jesus of Galilee!” Soon, several others who were gathered in that courtyard setting would similarly confirm Peter’s association with Christ. “After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away!’” (Matthew 26:69-73).

During these beginning days of 2026, I am still reading and hearing about making resolutions. One popular Christian author commented that he has cultivated a habit of using the fruit of the Spirit passage as a guideline or standard for evaluating his spiritual progress in the new year. There are nine aspects of this Holy Spirit endowed fruit that Paul mentions in Galatians: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). There is a lot to unpack in the last paragraph of chapter five, but it is the summary verse that most gets my attention, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in pace with the Spirit.”  

Jesus completely embodied the nine characteristics Paul sets forth in this memorable passage. Since believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of Christ, we can expect that the Spirit is working within us to produce every aspect of those nine in our daily lives. It seems reasonable to prayerfully use these as a standard for measuring Christlikeness in our lives.

Years ago, WWJD was used as a common acronym for Christian decision-making. We would ask ourselves in times of decision, “What Would Jesus Do?” I propose a new question that might inspire some changes this year, “How Would Jesus Live?” What difference would it make to take a daily inventory of how we compare to the Spirit’s fruit? Would growing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control reshape us in Christ’s image?

It should be a compliment to any believer to have others notice our association with Christ. Let’s make it our practice to live our lives and speak in such a way that others could say, “Surely, you have been with Jesus!”

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com
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