A co-worker of mine keeps a dish of candy on her desk for the benefit of hungry passersby. The other day when I visited the dish, she had set out tiny packets of M&Ms. The label said the packets were “fun size.” My co-worker and I shared a good chuckle when I told her, “You’d think ‘fun size’ would be bigger, wouldn’t you?”

Christians are sometimes guilty, I believe, of living “fun size” lives. We stick a label on our discipleship that tells the world that it’s the most wonderful way to live, but we put that life on public view in an unattractively small package. In so doing, we condemn life in Christ with faint praise. It’s tough to convince people to become Christians if we who are already Christians seem miserable and deprived.

Jesus said that His purpose in coming was that His sheep “may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Being disciples of Christ is supposed to give us liberty, not a yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). That doesn’t mean we are free to indulge in all manner of worldly pleasures—far from it. We ought to recognize that pleasures of sinfulness are fleeting and corruptive, and that the joys in Christ are infinitely better (Hebrews 11:25-26). But it does mean that in seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, we ought to find—and display—a surpassing degree of joy.

The word “joy” (and other words derived from it) appears about 75 times in the New Testament. “Sorrow” appears about 15 times; “grief” about half that many. Which, then—joy or sorrow—do you suppose ought to characterize Christians more?

How do we show others we are living abundantly in Christ? Well, how much enthusiasm do we have for the Lord, His word and His work? The very word “enthusiasm” means “God-filled,” which should give us some clue. Does God fill our lives? And to what extent?

The book of Acts presents us with numerous examples of enthusiastic discipleship. Consider this description of the earliest church in Jerusalem:

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47).

Notice some of the words and phrases that leap out of that passage: “with one accord,” “gladness,” “praising God,” “having favor.” Certainly sounds like an abundant life, doesn’t it? How many of these expressions might people use to characterize us? Would others look at us as a assembly of disciples and say that we act “with one accord”? Would they describe us as a “glad” group of people? Do they see us “praising God” as we go about our daily lives? Do we live in such a manner that it causes people to look upon us—and more importantly, upon the faith we uphold—in a “favorable” way? And while we’re at it, notice what the Scriptures tell us were the results of this lifestyle: people were being added daily to the number of the saved. We could have that kind of impact on our community today if only we lived as abundantly—as “large”—as those first disciples!

Sometimes it’s simply a matter of phrasing things positively instead of negatively. Suppose you sat down in a restaurant and the waiter approached you and asked, “You don’t want to order anything, do you?” You’d probably say, “I guess not,” and leave. Perhaps we by our attitude say to the world, “You wouldn’t want to be a Christian, would you?” Which makes it all the easier for people to reply, “No, I guess not.”

Disciples aren’t made with emotions; they are made by the word of God (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41; Romans 10:17). But the word can either be helped or hindered by the demeanor of the messengers who carry it. If we behave as though being people of the Word is a blessing, others are much more likely to give us the opportunity to share it with them. If we create the impression that obeying the teachings of Christ means living a “fun size” life, we’re not going to be very successful in bringing people to Him.

Stand in front of the spiritual mirror and check out the “size label” you show to others. Does your life say “fun size” but you’ve crammed your Christianity into a microscopic package? Or do you “live large,” and by your evident joy and enthusiasm let the brilliant light of Christ shine out into the world around you (Matthew 5:14-16)? The bigger, more abundant and enthusiastic lives we live for Jesus, the more powerful our influence will be in leading others to live for Him also.

Now go “live large”!