I now rejoice in my sufferings for you,
and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ… —Colossians
1:24
The
Christian worker has to be a sacred “go-between.” He must be so closely
identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that Christ can
continually bring His creating life through him. I am not referring to the
strength of one individual’s personality being superimposed on another, but the
real presence of Christ coming through every aspect of the worker’s life. When
we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are
conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words,
on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which
otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of
redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding
Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a
refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because
such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are
living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in
others those things which He alone can do.
When we
say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what
wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through
all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger
and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes
his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the
appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet
Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).
No comments:
Post a Comment