A tiny rubber figurine of Jesus changed the way I evangelize.
In my work as a writer, I am content to sit behind the scenes. I am emboldened to speak my mind or share my deepest longings on the page in a way I would never do face-to-face with a stranger. I share my love of Jesus and the Blessed Mother joyfully in an article or a book, but I am shy when it comes to talking with others about my faith.
Enter Jesus, or rather, a kitschy little version of Him.
Who doesn’t love a pocket-sized Jesus?
This past summer, while helping my daughter do some back-to-school shopping for her children and her classroom, I bought a dozen tiny Jesus figurines to add to her treasure box in the classroom. It was an impulse buy, but I was charmed by the figurines and thought some of the lower grade kids would like them, too. They did! And within a week she was out of this little treasure.
It was about that time that I started seeing these same little Jesus figurines pop up on social media. Apparently, someone took inspiration from the ducks-on-a-Jeep trend (Jeep owners place rubber duckies on each other’s cars as a nod to their Jeep loyalty), and started placing Tiny Jesus in public spaces.
Becoming intrepid missionaries
My husband immediately ordered three bags of the figurines. The large bag went to our daughter for the classroom, and he and I each got our own smaller bag. Thus began a fun and, I think, impactful way to evangelize.
I started this mission with some trepidation. What if I got caught while placing Jesus in a random spot? What if the business owner thought I was up to something? What if I made people angry or offended them?
What if I spread a little joy?
That’s exactly what happened. I don’t know what the reaction has been to Tiny Jesus placed in bookshelves, public bathrooms, and self-checkouts, but the inevitable happened. I got caught!
When I finished putting stamps on some letters at the counter in the post office, I took out a Tiny Jesus and placed it a little off to the side but visible to the clerk. I was surprised by a gleeful laugh from behind. The clerk had walked around behind me to replace some forms and caught me leaving the figurine for her.
The conversation that followed was animated and cheerful. “Oh, it’s a tiny little Jesus!” Her delighted exclamation made me laugh with her. And then she wanted to know all about what I was doing sneaking Jesus around like that. She even looked up the figurines and ordered a bag right then and there, excited to join in this fun evangelization game.
Am I converting souls with this little game? Well, we know that’s for the Holy Spirit. What I do know is I am bringing joy to the people open to receiving this little gift. So far, everyone I’ve encountered already knows Jesus, so why bother? Because any opportunity for bringing up our Lord is a beautiful moment of engagement. I’ll never know the impact of this game, but that’s not the point.
I discovered an important element to this mission: it has engaged my family. My husband pops a figure in his pocket when he goes out to run errands. My daughter plans to place her Tiny Jesus figures all over the school for the students to find, but my heart burst when my grandson took his Tiny Jesus and wanted to give it away immediately. In a sweetly unintended way, he has learned to be joyful in sharing his faith. That’s enough to keep me stocking Tiny Jesus for the next surprise encounter.