Destruction and building - at a bank?

So I've been home now for two months.

At the bank yesterday, I got chatting with the teller as she dealt with my business. After explaining what I had been doing for the last years, she told me that she had a sister in law who worked in an orphanage in Romania.

Then, conspiratorially, she leaned in and told me with a smirk, "She said God told her to go! And every time she sees me, she asks, 'How is your walk with God?'"

I could hear the disdain in her voice. She went on to tell me how she hates 'Bible-bashers'.

I thought of defending the sister in law and missionaries in general, realising that despite what I'd told her about the work I'd been doing before, she never realised I was also 'one of them'!

But something stopped me. I am not ashamed of being a Christian. I want others to know the depth of joy and freedom that come from relationship with God through Christ. But I am not and do not want to be identified as a Bible basher. My first question when I see a non-Christian friend or relative is never going to be 'How is your walk with God?' I want my life to draw people to Christ, not irritate and repulse them.

So I said nothing.

We chatted more about other things and enjoyed each others' company.
When I return to the bank, I will look out for her and we can continue our conversations.

I thought about Jeremiah 1:10 this morning:
'See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.'

In some ways, I see this as a Christian's manifesto as well; certainly as mine.

With Christ in me, I want to uproot and tear down wrong foundations built of God, faith in Him and Christianity. I want to destroy the myths and annoyances that rightly turn people away from following the same faith as the people who annoy them. I want to build and plant the Kingdom of God - the way it is and should be.

The bank is not just for banking now, but for uprooting, tearing down, destroying, overthrowing, building and planting. The right way.