The disciples' brand

So if we played word association with names of disciples I think most of us would come up with different descriptions for different ones. Just like we did with brand names yesterday I want us to think about the brands and what comes to mind when I say certain disciples or Biblical character's names. If I said Moses, it would be leader, strong leader, true leader. If I said David it could be anything from annointed, to Giant slayer, to King, to adulterer. If I said Abraham it would most likely be father because of the song more so than the BIble unfortunately. If I said, Peter some of us would say faith, strong, but most likely many would remember the denial and say coward or chicken. If I said Judas, it would most likely be betrayal. If I said James and John we would come up with Sons of Thunder. If I said Thomas it would be doubter. I think one important thing to remember is that we are all characterized in one way or another and many times it is for our actions in one specific moment.
Let's talk a little bit more at length about Thomas. He is called doubting Thomas, simply because he wanted to solidify His faith. Isn't that why we go to church, why we pray and why we read our Bibles. We are constantly hungering for more and more of God's Truth and that is all he wanted.
When Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem the disciples thought that it would be certain death for all of them. Surprisingly, it was Thomas who said: Then let us go so that we may die with him. It was a courageous statement, yet we don't remember him for that. We also fail to point out that in this story of Thomas' doubt we have the one place in the all the Gospels where the Divinity of Christ is bluntly and unequivocally stated. It is interesting, is it not, that the story that gives Thomas his infamous nickname, is the same story that has Thomas making an earth shattering confession of faith? Look at his confession, "My Lord, and my God." Not teacher. Not Lord. Not Messiah. But God! It is the only place where Jesus is called God without qualification of any kind. It is uttered with conviction as if Thomas was simply recognizing a fact, just as 2 + 2 = 4, and the sun is in the sky. You are my Lord and my God! These are certainly not the words of a doubter.
Unfortunately, history has remembered him for this scene where the resurrected Christ made an appearance to the disciples in a home in Jerusalem. Thomas was not present and when he heard about the event he refused to believe it. Maybe he was the forerunner of modern day cynicism. Maybe the news simply sounded too good to be true. Thomas said: Unless I feel the nail prints in his hands I will not believe.
Now I cannot help but notice that Thomas has separated himself from the disciples and therefore, in his solitude, missed the resurrection appearance. I think that John is suggesting to us that Christ appears most often within the community of believers that we call the church, and when we separate ourselves from the church we take a chance on missing his unique presence.
So spend more time in church, and more time with other believers. Make sure you spend that time with Christ on the forefront so that others will get a good perception of you and your brand. Doubting Thomas was simply wanting truth, don't we all? I ask you again, what does your brand stand for?
Thanks for reading and have an awesome weekend!