The Gospel According to You

One of the most inspiring things for a Christian who hopes to share the gospel is the example of another Christian who does it effectively. Now consider this: one of the most discouraging things for a Christian who hopes to share the gospel is the example of another Christian who does it effectively. Why the contradiction? Because we often look at positive examples the wrong way.

The right way to observe an effective model of Christian service is to watch and note areas where we can learn and improve. The wrong way occurs when we look at a person and decide that if we can’t be him or her, then we don’t want to be anything. Of course that can lead to real problems. Rarely do we see people being successful at completely mimicking others. Someone, for instance, who is trying to be another Billy Graham may quickly find that he can’t put five thoughts together, is deathly afraid of public speaking, and does not like crowds. The harder that he pushes to be Billy, the more he runs into a brick wall. After failing in the most awkward ways, he then comes to the conclusion that he is not cut out to tell other people about Jesus.

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