Make Jesus Look Good: The Faithful Character of Joseph

On Sunday evening, Pastor Chris Parker turned to the life of Joseph in Genesis 39, taking as his text Matthew 5:16—“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Joseph, he said, is a striking example of a believer whose one aim was not to promote himself but to “make Jesus look good.”

Reading through the whole chapter, the pastor traced Joseph from Potiphar’s house to prison, noting the refrain repeated throughout: “the Lord was with Joseph.” Joseph was faithful in small, monotonous duties and in large responsibilities alike, and God prospered everything he touched—Potiphar’s house, the prison, and eventually all of Egypt. Even when his brothers sold him into slavery and he was unjustly imprisoned, God was quietly moving every piece into place, putting Joseph in the right place at the right time. God does not cause evil, Pastor Parker observed, but He uses even bad circumstances to accomplish good.

The heart of the message was Joseph’s response to temptation. When Potiphar’s wife pursued him “day by day,” Joseph refused and finally fled, asking, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Temptation, the pastor reminded the congregation, is not itself sin—yielding is; and salvation never exempts anyone from the tempter, who “as a roaring lion” never leaves us alone. Joseph cared more about his relationship with God than his own desires, doing right even far from home, where “God doesn’t stay home—He goes with you.”

He closed with a story from evangelist David Gibbs about a gracious, never-complaining young woman, pressing home the point that our task in every trial is simply to reflect Christ. Like Joseph, believers are to shine so that others see their good works and glorify God.