A Christ-follower with a limp: August 2021

Sunday, August 29, 2021

The Church is a Love Story

“You can always give without loving,

but you can never love without giving.” Amy Carmichael

One of Jane’s favorite romantic movies is The Princess Bride, based on the fantasy romance novel by William Goldman. She loves the characters and humor. My all-time favorite romantic movie is While You Were Sleeping. Every time I watch it, I spring a leak. It stars Sandra Bullock as Lucy, a Chicago Transit Authority token collector and Bill Pullman as Jack, the brother of a man whose life she saves, along with Peter Gallagher as Peter, the man who is saved, and Peter’s crazy, wonderful, generous loving family that has open arms for Lucy. It’s a modernized Cinderella story. Boy from the rich side of town meets poor working-class girl, they fall in love. They should never have met, much less fallen in love. But all who are watching can see how right it all is. We quietly cheer and pray that somehow, someway, they’ll make it and it will have a fairy tale ending.

What is it about this theme that so resonates so well with us that we keep coming back for more? From the dawn of storytelling, whether it’s Belle and the Beast, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, or movies like Sabrina, Notting Hill, or even The Adventures of Robin Hood? Each of these stories portrays something extreme, something that couldn’t possibly be, and yet something we love and long for. We all wish someone would love us in such a sacrificial way, someone who’d willingly throw away security, fame and fortune and risk it all because they believe that we’re worth it.

Think about it. That’s what our world is looking for—passionate, radical, extreme love. Why does it resonate so well with us? Because we have been wired on the inside for such a kind of love. But only One Person can love us this way. This is the love of God that we find in Jesus Christ for us. And when we, His followers, accept His love and learn to walk in His love, then He gives us the power to extend that same unbelievable love to others.

Part of what so resonates with me about While You Were Sleeping is that it’s not just a love story, it’s a family love story. Jack and Lucy not only find each other, but Lucy also gets a whole new family who love and accept her. Much of the movie is in the Christmas season. Maybe you’re like me and remember some miserable Christmases from your formative years. Family love was something that was “only in my dreams.”

The cross makes such love not just a dream but a reality. It’s what Jesus designed for us to have in our church. God doesn’t just love me, He loves us! Jesus didn’t just die for me, He died for us! We are family!

Because God loved us, we’re commanded to love each other. It’s not a selfish love that says, “This is what I want. Give it to me if you love me.”

The kind of love Jesus calls us to is self-sacrificial love. It’s the kind of love fleshed out by Jesus in His public and private ministry as He formed His disciples into a community of believers. It’s the kind of love demonstrated in His Passion as He suffered and died for those believers and the entire world. The love we’re to have for one another is to be self-sacrificing. It’s a committed love without a selfish or self-serving agenda.

Not long ago, I finished reading The Long Walk by Salvomir Rawicz. It’s an incredible story. Rawicz was a soldier in the Polish Army when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, thus beginning World War II. Trying to escape the Nazis, he inadvertently crossed the Polish border into Russia, where he’s captured by the Russians and charged with being a spy. After months of brutal interrogation, he’s tricked into signing a confession stating he’s a spy and sentenced to 25 years of hard labor in Siberia. He, along with hundreds of other prisoners, are transported by train 3,000 miles east, then chained to a truck and forced to walk another 1,000 miles north into the bitter cold of the Artic Circle where the labor prison was located.

Upon arrival he begins plotting his escape. Over the next six months as he plans, six other prisoners join him. Finally, they all escape, heading south for India. It’s a heart-wrenching account. Some don’t survive the 3,000-mile trek south that takes over a year to complete – through the bitter cold of Siberia and the Himalayas, and the blistering heat of the Gobi Desert.

These men not only escaped together they grew to love each other though they were from varied backgrounds. Some were Poles. One is an American. But it’s one for all and all for one. They are committed to one another in both life and death. They moved beyond convenience and sentimentality and came to really understand love, sacrificial love.

That’s what we pray for and long for here at Grace. A vital part of having this kind of love for each other means that we must move our relationships beyond Sunday mornings. It’s why we’re urging you to join one of our Grace Groups that begin the week of September 12^th.

It’s easy to talk about love at church. We want it to be much more than just words. As our Savior traveled the distance from heaven to earth in love for us, God has called us to make a long walk together. It requires love for those who journey with us. It’s committed love. It’s selfless love. It’s sacrificial love. And it starts with me and it starts with you.

Author and lecturer, Leo Buscaglia, once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly man who’d recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.” That’s what God has called us to – to rejoice…to cry with each other. Grace groups help make that happen. We get to know each other and as we know each other, we love each other.

So are you in? When we have that kind of love for each other, the world sees it. It lets them know that we’re Christians and belong to Jesus. Isn’t that what our Lord said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

What does the world know about you? What does it know about us? Do they really know that we love each other because He loved us so much? Such love doesn’t just happen. It takes time and commitment.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

Monday, August 23, 2021

Are YOU Persecuted?

“Christ’s followers cannot expect better treatment
in the world than their Master had.” Matthew Henry

According to one survey, about half of all Americans believe evangelicals face discrimination. Still, others believe they’re facing actual persecution. I’m not sure. What is true is that we’re living in a post-Christian society where the Christian faith is no longer automatically respected.

Our culture has changed. The media is less sympathetic to stories where Christians face hate speech or violence than identical stories where other groups are victimized. Social institutions such as academia, media, entertainment, and the arts are likely to be places where anti-Christian prejudice and discrimination take place. Those institutions greatly shape our cultural values. As a result, those with anti-Christian attitudes are in a position to create and sustain anti-Christian perspectives. There’s also evidence that anti-Christian hate can result in discrimination.

What should we do? The answer leads to a more important question: What did the early church do? What did first-century Christians do?

Study the pages of the New Testament and you won’t find those early Christians playing the victim card or screaming oppression. Their response to persecution in Acts 5:40-41 is shocking and convicting. After the Apostles were called in before the Sanhedrin…“they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.”

As I read Christian History and track the persecuted Church around the world today, there is little that’s “persecution” in America, though as our culture grows increasingly secular that may change. What we face in comparison to believers in China, Sudan and innumerable other places in the world is hard to label “persecution” or even “oppression.”

American Christians need to refuse to go along with a trend of oversensitivity. Our Lord offers us a much better way. He said: “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either… If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27-36).

How are Christians to respond when they’re mistreated? With grace, love, and kindness. Kindness is a choice to act like Jesus when everything in us tells us that we shouldn’t. It’s not in the big things but in the little ones.

It’s as small as mowing a neighbor’s lawn or sharing vegetables from your garden with a co-worker. It’s simply speaking to, interacting, and thanking the clerk at the gas station. It’s asking your server if before you ask the blessing for your food if you can pray for them. It’s befriending that co-worker or student who is friendless. It’s using social media to encourage others, noticing birthdays, anniversaries or a child learning to ride a bike. It’s listening to a child or an elderly person. It’s paying for someone else’s meal anonymously. It’s smiling and looking pleasant…like you have Jesus in your heart…because really you do.

In the movie, The Hobbit, Gandalf says, “Saruman (a wizard who goes to the dark side) believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I’ve found it is in the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.”

Making a difference isn’t the big things, it’s the little acts of kindness. Real love is empowered by God, who loves everyone. We would do well to mentally picture these words on the forehead of everyone that we meet: “For whom Christ died.” If God loves everyone, then He’s our source of power to love anyone. Love takes time, empathy, and the discovery of who others are. The power to love everyone is not from us. It comes from our relationship with the God who loved us when we were unlovable, because He loved us we can love anyone.

Recently, I read of a 19-year-old Christian girl in China who was beaten and thrown into a filthy cell. It was dark, but from the smell, she knew that the slimy floor was covered with human excrement. There was no bed or chair. She had to sit and sleep in this filth. She squatted down so that as little of her bleeding body as possible would touch the floor and silently gave thanks to the Lord that she was worthy to suffer for Him. She asked Him for wisdom and strength, not to get out of this terrible place, but that wherever He put her, she would be able to continue to share the gospel.

One day as she quietly sang a hymn, the Lord impressed on her, “This is to be your ministry.” She thought, “I’m all alone. Whom can I witness to?” Suddenly an idea came to her. She stood up and called for the guard.

“Sir, can I do some hard labor for you?” The guard looked at her with contempt, mingled with surprise. No one had ever made that kind of request before. She said, “Look, this prison is filthy. Let me go into the cells and clean up the excrement. Just give me some water and a brush.”

Soon she found herself on her hands and knees cleaning and sharing the gospel with people who’d lost all hope of ever seeing another human being who did not come to beat them. When they realized that they could have eternal life as God’s free gift, they repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus Christ. Soon all of the prisoners had believed in Jesus Christ. The warden was furious. He gave her a sheet of paper and told her to write out a confession of her crimes against the revolution. She wrote out the plan of salvation so that the warden and even others heard about Christ.

You and I will probably never have to suffer for the gospel as she did, but we must follow her example. If we face cruel words, oppression or persecution, we should respond with love, kindness, and serving others. We must respond with grace. And we should be unstoppable in our commitment to the Lord’s work in the world, of proclaiming the good news of Christ to those who are perishing.

God loves the world. Jesus died to save it. Let’s you and I commit to being Jesus even to those who hate Him and us?

Monday, August 16, 2021

Are You Reading the William Shatner Bible?

“Bible reading enables us…to enjoy communion with God as He speaks to us from His Word, encouraging us, instructing us, and revealing Himself to us.” Jerry Bridges

I love The Babylon Bee. If you’re not familiar with the Bee, it’s satire, tongue in cheek, a kind of Christian version of The Onion. A recent Bee had “8 Handy Bible Reading Tips” (remember it’s satire). Here they are:

· Consider getting a hip translation with cool words like “yeet” and “sheeesh.” How can you experience the eternal Word of God if it's not cool and hip?

· Get an audio Bible read by William Shatner. In... the beginning... God... created... the heavens... and... the earth...

· Make sure to set aside at least seven seconds a day to read the Bible. It’s important to dedicate a few short seconds to the Lord before you spend the rest of the day on social media.

· Spend most of your devotional time trying to get a good picture of your Bible next to a cup of coffee for your Insta. Now that you’ve got a few seconds with the Lord, spend the entire time live-tweeting your devos and getting that perfect Instagram shot.

· Look for creative ways to rip verses out of context and make them all about you. Get creative! Read a verse about ancient Israel or Jews in the first century and think, “How can I make this all about me?”

· When your kids try to interrupt you, shout “NOT TODAY, SATAN!” Pair this maneuver with a cross formation using your fingers for maximum impact.

· Underline the entire book so no verses feel left out. The more underlining, the more spiritual you are.

· Whenever you read a really convicting verse, make sure to apply it to everyone else instead of yourself. This is an important one. If you read a verse that convicts you, just think how much Becky from Bible study needs to change her life instead of you. It's better this way.

Aren’t those hilarious? Yet, a reality that’s not funny is how few Christians consistently read their Bibles or are in the habit of reading them on a daily basis. A recent study sponsored by LifeWay shares some unfortunate yet unsurprising results: “A third of Americans who attend a Protestant church regularly (32%) say they read the Bible personally every day. Around a quarter (27%) say they read it a few times a week.” In other words, though our churches are to be based on the Bible, the facts are clear – many good, Christian, Bible-believing folk are not spending time in the Word every day or even every week…and it shows.

While our church is theologically conservative, if the numbers are accurate, many in our church are biblically illiterate. It’d be tempting to believe that in a church like ours the majority of people would be in the Word just as much throughout the week as they wish to be on the Lord’s Day. Sadly, that’s simply not the case. Even in a church like ours, many people struggle to simply do what they believe they ought to do.

Most who attend Grace know they should be reading the Bible throughout the week and probably feel guilty that they’re not. The issue isn’t ignorance or naivete but habit and commitment. People simply do not do what they know that they ought to do and, on one level, actually want to do. It’s not a habit simply because it’s not a priority. But it should be. No other daily habit is so life-changing and so affects our church.

For example, if you don’t shower, brush your teeth or wear deodorant, you’ll smell and others will socially distance from you. But if you don’t consistently read your Bible, others may not socially distance from you but they’ll probably wish they could. While you may not physically stink, your attitude and behavior will. You won’t be any different from those who don’t know the Lord. When we’re in the Word and applying it to our lives, we become more like Jesus. We’re gracious, attracting others instead of repelling them. Reading the Bible changes us, our priorities, and our worldview.

Others may not know why they know what they know, but they know when a Christian is consistently in God’s Word. Being in God’s Word makes us kinder, less selfish, more patient, more grateful, and joyful.

You are what you eat. That’s true physically and spiritually. What you mentally digest impacts you. Think about how you feel when you read your newsfeed or watch the news. Reading the Bible consistently has several benefits. It helps you see the world from God’s perspective. Instead of seeing a world out of control, you see a world that even in its moral deterioration is accomplishing His purposes. It reminds us that this world and life are temporary and to instead live for the real world and eternity.

2 Timothy 3:16, when discussing the topic of Scripture, says that it’s “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” Verse 17 goes on to say that this leads to the completeness and equipping “for every good work.” God’s Word is life-changing. Regularly reading Scripture reorients our thinking so that we grow up spiritually. You’re not equipped to handle life if you’re a spiritual toddler.

You’ll never meet a mature Christian who doesn’t regularly read the Bible. Why? God’s Word has power. It’s life-changing. There is no other book that can so change your life and eternal destiny, but the Bible can.

Gaylord Kambarami was the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Zimbabwe. Once when he offered a man a New Testament, the man responded, “If you give me that Bible, I will roll the pages and use them to make cigarettes!” Gaylord replied, “At least promise me that you will read the page before you smoke it.” The man agreed, so he gave him the New Testament and went his way. Fifteen years later, Gaylord was attending a convention when the speaker on the platform suddenly spotted him, pointed him out to the audience, and said, “This man doesn’t remember me, but 15 years ago he tried to sell me a New Testament. When I refused to buy it, he gave it to me, even though I told him I would use the pages to roll cigarettes. He made me promise to read the pages before I smoked them. Well, I smoked Matthew and I smoked Mark and I smoked Luke. But when I got to John 3:16, I couldn’t smoke any more. My life was changed from that moment.” He had become a full-time evangelist, pointing others to the powerful message of God’s Word.

God’s Word is spiritual dynamite. It can revolutionize your life but only if you read it. I dare you to read your Bible every day for the next month. Try it and get back to me on how God’s Word changed your life.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Baptism

“Baptism does not save a person, but Jesus means for His saved individuals to publicly identify with Him and His people. It’s one piece of how His citizens become official. It’s how they wave the flag." Jonathan Leeman

Noted author, Max Lucado wrote: “The human mind explaining baptism is like a harmonica interpreting Beethoven: the music is too majestic for the instrument. No scholar or saint can fully appreciate what this moment means in heaven. Any words on baptism, including these, must be seen as human efforts to understand a holy event. Our danger is to swing to one of two extremes: we make baptism either too important or too unimportant. Either we deify it or we trivialize it. One can see baptism as the essence of the gospel or as irrelevant to the gospel. Both sides are equally perilous. For example, one person says, ‘I am saved because I was baptized.’ The other says, ‘I am saved so I don’t need to be baptized.’ The challenge is to let the pendulum stop somewhere between the two viewpoints. This is done by placing it where it should be: at the foot of the cross.

Baptism is like a precious jewel—set apart by itself, it is nice and appealing but has nothing within it to compel. But place baptism against the backdrop of our sin and turn on the light of the cross, and the jewel explodes with significance. Baptism at once reveals the beauty of the cross and the darkness of sin. As a stone has many facets, baptism has many sides: cleansing, burial, resurrection, the death of the old, and the birth of the new. Just as the stone has no light within it, baptism has no inherent power. But just as the stone refracts the light into many colors, so baptism reveals the many facets of God’s grace.”

Once a person admits his/her sin and turns to Christ for salvation, Jesus commanded that the step of baptism must be taken to proclaim to heaven and earth that they are now a Christ-follower. Baptism is the initial, immediate step of obedience by one who has declared his/her faith. So important was this step of obedience that as far as we know, every single convert in the New Testament was baptized. With the exception of the thief on the cross, there’s no example of an unbaptized believer.

That’s why this is such an exciting day at Grace! We have four adults who have professed their faith in Christ and now want to obey the Lord by believer’s immersion. What a joy to hear their testimonies and how God has worked and brought about new life in Christ in their lives.

Like a wedding ring doesn’t make one married, so baptism will never get anyone into heaven. We are not baptized into eternal life. We are baptized because we have eternal life. We are baptized as a symbol that we have new life in Christ. It’s a matter of obedience. And since the time of Christ, believers have participated in baptism by immersion, sometimes with great fanfare and exuberance, and sometimes with solemnity and reverence. Regardless of style, though, the visual and emotional appeal of this confessional act is at the very heart of who we are as Christ-followers.

Baptism as an act of obedience. Some of the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples were the threefold instruction: to make disciples, baptize those who believe, and teach them all of His commands (Matt. 28:19-20). If for no other reason, we baptize because Jesus told us to. Obedience is to characterize followers of Christ. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus said we should teach new believers “to observe everything I have commanded you.” Baptism is simply an act of obedience both for the new believer and the local church. We baptize to please God and be obedient.

Baptism as an opportunity to witness. The New Testament and Christian History indicate that baptism served as the initial profession of faith for early believers. After Philip shared the gospel with the Ethiopian, the new believer’s first request was to be baptized (Acts 8). When the Philippian jailer responded to the preaching of Paul and Silas, he and believing members of his family were baptized (Acts 16). The same is true for Lydia (Acts16), Cornelius (Acts 10), the Corinthians (Acts 18), and others. For these believers, baptism was a silent witness, an outward expression, of their new faith and new way of life in Christ.

So how is baptism a witnessing opportunity for us? According to Romans 6:1-4, our baptism is a witness to the saving work of Christ - His death, burial, and resurrection. As a symbol, baptism visually reenacts His burial in the grave and His resurrection to life. That’s the picture in immersion.

When we see a new believer walk into the water, go under the water and come up from the water, we are seeing what Jesus did to save us. Baptism symbolizes that as Christ died, was buried, and rose again, so the believer has died, is buried to self, and now has new life in Christ.

Baptism symbolizes that he/she is a new creature in Christ. As believers adopt a Christlike character, the change becomes evident to those with whom they associate. It symbolizes that change in the new believer. And it’s a public witness to believers and nonbelievers. Like a wedding, it’s a public confession that this individual is now a Christ-follower.

Why won’t some believers be baptized? Usually, there are two reasons – humiliation or fear. Though baptism is exciting, it’s not pretty. One goes down into the water dry and comes up a soaking mess. It’s humbling. You’re not in control but trusting the one immersing you in the water.

That leads to the second reason. Some individuals are terrified of water. Yet, if God can miraculously save your sinful soul, He can protect you from a little water. That’s why the baptism of Les Vincent today is so moving. Les has some heart issues. Baptism carries some risk for him, yet Les is more committed to being obedient to God’s Word than to being safe.

The early church took seriously the concept of church membership who was born again. Acts 2:47 tells us that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” The first church was made up of those who’d been saved and were then baptized. In spite of some obvious cultural and social differences between the 1st-century church and today's church, the requirement for congregational inclusion must still be believer's baptism. At baptism the new believer is making a commitment not only to Christ but to a local church family. He or she is identifying publicly with a specific congregation.

The church body at this point also is assuming responsibility for the new believer. There’s a new member in their family. Being part of that local church means the congregation has a responsibility to include the new Christ follower, to encourage him or her in their spiritual walk, and to support the new believer as a brother or sister and as a friend.

Everyone who is part of the fellowship of a local church should have experienced personal salvation and believer’s immersion. Similar to a wedding ceremony, baptism is a holy moment both for the person being baptized and for that local church family they are being baptized into.

Sunday, August 1, 2021

The One Trait You NEED To Be Used By God: INADEQUACY

“The great mistake made by most of the Lord’s people is in hoping to discover in themselves that which is to be found in Christ alone.” A.W. Pink

For all four years of high school I wrestled. During the last two, my junior and senior years, some of the greatest wrestlers in the country were on our team. The college that Maranatha Baptist Academy was associated with had Olympic Gold Medalist, Ben Peterson, for their head wrestling coach. As it was a dormitory school, young wrestlers from around the country came to work out with Ben, but being around such great wrestlers didn’t help me. I was still inadequate. My wrestling skills just didn’t cut it.
Our conference included the Wisconsin School for the Blind and the Wisconsin School for the Deaf, as well as Ethan Allen, a school for juvenile delinquents. There’s something very humbling about being pinned by a blind guy, a deaf guy, and a convicted felon.
None of us like to be embarrassed or feel foolish or inadequate. America loves winners not losers. Winners get accolades, the girl and a new car. Losers slink off into obscurity. Yet, those who are inadequate are the very ones God uses. They don’t have to be convinced that they can’t do it – they know that they can’t do it, and it’s precisely why God can use them.
One of the primary reasons that Christians don’t share the gospel is that they feel inadequate to share the gospel. They feel that they don’t know enough or that they’re going to say the wrong thing or look stupid. But they’re wrong. God loves to use the inadequate, the “losers” so that it’s His power and He gets all of the glory!
One of my favorite accounts in the Bible is found in Numbers 22. Someone dubbed it the “Minor Minor Prophet.” It’s so encouraged me through the years. It’s about a wicked prophet named Balaam and his “ride.” Though Balaam was a wicked prophet, he was not a false prophet. He did hear from God and God did give him some true prophecies to speak. But he was also materialistic and greedy. He was a prophet for hire.
Balaam was hired by an evil king to curse God’s people Israel. God told him, “No,” but Balaam still wanted the big payday. Like a spoiled toddler, he kept begging God to let him go, and finally, God conceded. Here’s where the “Minor Minor Prophet” comes in.
The next morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and left for Moab but God sent an angel to take out Balaam on the way. The donkey that Balaam was riding could see the angel, but Balaam couldn’t. And when the donkey three times moved to avoid the angel, Balaam was angry and beat the animal. “Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth” (Numbers 22:28), and it rebuked the prophet for the beatings. “Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn” (verse 31). The angel told Balaam that he’d have killed him had not the donkey spared his life. Ironically, a dumb beast had more wisdom than God’s prophet. The angel then repeated to Balaam the instruction that he was only to speak what God told him to speak concerning the Hebrews. His ride, that donkey, was a “Minor Minor Prophet.”
That’s so encouraging for us! If God can use a dumb donkey to speak and accomplish His will and share His Word, then He can surely use us.
One of the most amazing traits that you’ll find repeatedly in Scripture is that God uses the very ones the world overlooks to accomplish His will. In fact, often God humbles very talented, natural leader types so that He can use them. It wasn’t until Joseph was a slave and a prisoner that God used him to rescue His people. Moses was a fugitive turned shepherd when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. David was the baby of the family. When Samuel was looking to anoint a new king, his family had forgotten all about him. Peter was a rough, a “stick your foot in your mouth” fisherman that God used to preach on the Day of Pentecost and thousands came to Christ. Paul was a brilliant theologian but God struck him blind to make him realize how impotent he was before God saved him. We don’t know the name of the little boy that gave up his lunch that Jesus used to feed the 5,000. Check out the Bible for yourself. You’ll find individual after individual who was a nobody that God greatly made a somebody but it was only because the Somebody had His hand on their life!
In evangelism we are in a spiritual battle. There is no way mere mortals could accomplish or win this battle on our own. God gave us this responsibility so that He could use us and He’d get all of the glory!
Most of us are hesitant to share our faith or build a bridge with a lost family member, neighbor or friend because we feel like such spiritual losers…God loves to use a loser!
If you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, you already know how powerful He is – after all, He saved you. Next Sunday we’ll have the joy of seeing several individuals be baptized. None of them came to Christ because a light broke through the heavens or an angel appeared to them. They came to Christ because God worked in their heart. They came to Christ because some inadequate believers cared enough to share the gospel with them. I love 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Why don’t we share the greatest message that the world desperately needs?
We feel inadequate. We are. Yet, God never gives us a responsibility without also giving us the means to accomplish it. Evangelism is not some specialized call. God has already provided all of the divine resources that you will ever need to share His message. He’s indwelt you with His Spirit. While we are inadequate, He is more than adequate.
We think that we don’t know enough. We feel we don’t understand the gospel well enough to share it with someone else. We’re afraid we won’t have the answers to questions that someone might raise. We don’t have to have all of the answers. We know that once we were lost and now we’ve been found. We’re like the blind man who only knew that he’d been blind and now that Jesus had healed him, he could see (John 9).
Do you want to reach your world? Start by knowing the names of those around you, that neighbor and co-worker. Begin praying for them. Be friendly and kind to them. Learn what they care about and who they are.
If you and I will simply care, if we will be Jesus to those God has brought in our paths, it’s amazing what God will do…not because we’re super Christians but because He’s a Super Savior!