Have You Got Skin in the Game?

I’ve heard that question asked several times in the last few days so twice asked, I knew a blog was coming! I found out that the phrase “having skin in the game” was coined by Warren Buffett. He started out with so little that the seed money for his first stock fund came from others. Eleven doctors put together over $100K for him to start investing. But because he wanted to show his own commitment as well, he contributed $100 to the fund. It was his demonstration of willingness to be on the line with others. He had “skin in the game”, as Buffett said.

Then, a couple of days ago, I heard Lisa Harper, a Christian speaker and author, talk about her being single at age 50 and adopting her Missy, an HIV orphan baby from Haiti. One day at school, Missy was asked by a little boy, “Who’s your daddy?” and she said she didn’t have a daddy. Lisa said: “Missy could be sad that she doesn’t have a “skin” daddy who can make her pancakes and take her to soccer practice. But through lots of talks with her, Missy came to realize that she DOES have a Daddy! Her Daddy God who loves her more than all the stars in the sky.” I loved it when Lisa said that now Missy has lots of good, strong, godly “uncles” who have stepped up to show her so much love and example of “God with skin on”.

We live in a world with so much need for a God who has skin, that is, physically, real and touchable. So where are those “with skin in the game” and where are those who are “God with skin on”? Is there a touchable God? Yes, there is. Within the Body of Christ, the body of believers! It’s profound to realize that the Body of Christ is not a figure of speech. Each believer, you and me, with his or her skin and bones, makes up the Body of Christ, literally, as much as Jesus when He walked the earth.

By our presence in giving love in tangible ways to others and in giving encouragement and hope to those who need “just a word” that helps them push forward, and in opening our hearts and in wrapping our arms around someone who needs a warm touch – we are being Jesus “with skin on”. We can say “I’ll pray for you” to someone, but how can we expect our prayers to be answered fully without letting ourselves be Christ for them? Praying WITH someone to offer comfort is a prayer that has been answered by God who still walks the earth in the flesh of you and me. We can be God’s ear for them, God’s touch, and God’s comfort.

Knowing that I have a “God with skin” in those around me, completely magnifies my appreciation of who those people are my life. When my best friend listens to me, Christ is there listening. When my children ask me over and offer me a meal, Christ is there cooking. When a friend “likes” and/or comments on my blog with encouragement, Christ is encouraging me. Each action they take gives God skin. Let’s put some “skin” in the game today – as the Body of Christ “with skin on”!

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” ― St. Teresa of Avila