“I
was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was
to speak the next night and had arrived a day early. He came incognito and sat
on the grass at the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark
glasses, no one recognized him.
“Directly
in front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to
my presentation. When I invited people to come forward as an open sign of
commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man
on the shoulder and asked, ‘Would you like to accept Christ? I'll be glad to
walk down with you if you want to.’ The old man looked him up and down, thought
it over for a moment, and then said, ‘Naw, I think I'll just wait till the big
gun comes tomorrow night.’ Billy and I have had several good chuckles over that
incident. Unfortunately, it underlines how, in the minds of many people,
evangelism is the task of the ‘Big Guns,’ not the ‘little shots.’" (Lieghton
Ford, Good News is for Sharing, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co., p.
67.)
Who
are the “big guns” and the “little shots” when it comes to disciples of
Christ? Who is most qualified to speak
the truth of the Gospel message to others?
We may be tempted to think that only a select few (pastors, Sunday
School teachers, Bible Study leaders, etc.) are really qualified to speak the
Gospel message clearly, but the reality of life as a disciple of Christ is that
every disciple is a “big gun.” This
makes each of us a missionary, called to speak the truth of the Gospel to those
around us.
Join
us this week as we dive into John 1:35-51 where we will learn about the call of
the first disciples and what this means for disciples of Christ today. May we bathe Sunday morning in prayer, asking
the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself in a mighty way so that the Gospel of Christ
is clearly understood by all. For His
glory!
Striving to know Christ and make Him known,
Pastor Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment