Ordinary (6/16)

If we have come to know Christ, if we have been born again, we have been given a testimony of what God has done in our lives. The hymn writer John Newton said, "...was blind, but now I see." The presence of Jesus brings life change, our eyes have been opened and we can experience forgiveness and freedom through our Savior. And, we can be challenged to share His message. In 1st Timothy 1, Paul shares a portion of his testimony of His transformation through Jesus:
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Wow!  Just think about that - someone who was intent on destroying the Church became a catalyst for the growth of it.  The salvation of a soul through a relationship with Jesus will do that.

Greg Laurie is heard weekdays at 2:00 p.m. on A New Beginning on Faith Radio.  He is Senior Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in California and has long been known as an evangelist through the ministry of Harvest Crusades.

Recently, he spoke at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's European Congress on Evangelism.  Prior to his giving his message, he talked with Christian Daily International/Christian Post.  The article including his comments appeared on the Harvest website. 

The article states:

Laurie recalls a private moment with the late Billy Graham—whom Laurie calls “one of the greatest, if not the greatest evangelist in human history, apart from the Apostles”—when the two had lunch together, some time before Graham passed away. Laurie asked the older evangelist for his wisdom: “If an older Billy could speak to a younger Billy, what would you say to yourself?”

“I would remind myself to preach more on the cross of Christ and the blood of Christ because that is where the power is,” replied Graham.

“I have never forgotten that,” Laurie reflects, “and I’m going to mention that to the evangelists here [in Berlin] because the message of the evangelist is very simple and we have to avoid complicating it.”

Laurie has been on the BGEA's board for 25 years and "spent a lot of time" with the late evangelist toward the end of his ministry, describing it as “a time of great training."  He described Graham as someone who was unique, one-of-a-kind.  He stated:

“I think Billy Graham was called to be Billy Graham. I think we’re all called to bring the gospel to our generation in our way. It was said of David, he served God in his generation. And that’s what Billy did. He served God in his generation.”

This understanding of integrity needing to be prevalent within the core of an evangelist’s private life, as it was with Billy Graham, is important for Laurie who brings to the Berlin congress an encouragement for fellow evangelists to be focused without distraction on their task “to preach the gospel, to sow the seed and leave the result ultimately up to God.”

The article points out that, "A sense of understated ordinariness is key for the effectiveness of evangelism, according to Laurie."  He recognizes the call each of us have to fulfill the Great Commission, even though some may have a particular anointing in the area of evangelism. He highlighted some characters found in Scripture who struggled with their own call.  Laurie stated:

“Moses didn’t feel qualified to lead the children of Israel. He had some kind of a speech impediment. Gideon said, ‘I’m least in my father’s house.’ And others gave what we would call excuses as to why they could not be the one to do what God called them to do.

“But it seems as though the Lord goes out of his way to choose ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And the apostle Paul says, God calls the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. So I think if you believe your call is to be an evangelist, then just go evangelize.”

He also notes: "In fact, I think it’s a good thing to struggle with, ‘Am I really qualified to do this?’ Because if you think, ‘I am the most qualified person that ever walked the Earth,’ you probably just disqualified yourself because God wants us to walk humbly before him.”  The article also relates:

The ultimate test of success for an evangelist however is not results but faithfulness, according to Laurie. He points out that Jesus on the final day will not say, “Well done good and successful servant” but “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Greg Laurie reminds us of how the obedience of one man touched incredible numbers of people. He said about Billy Graham, "...he brought the gospel to more people than any other person ever.”  We may not be called to reach millions for the gospel, but we are called to be obedient - to demonstrate the love of Christ so that people may come to know Him.  We can be faithful to the Lord, and as Laurie points out, leave the results up to God.

We can keep in mind that God did the extraordinary through this seemingly ordinary man who humbly allowed the Lord to work through Him.  The minute we begin to think we are something we are not, our degree of effectiveness for the Lord will be diminished.  We can cultivate our love for the Lord and for others, and allow Him to motivate and use us for His purposes.