I will
not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me
in leading the Gentiles to obey
God by what I have
said and done— by the power of signs and miracles, through the
power of the Spirit of God. So from
Jerusalem all the
way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Romans 15:18-19
I’ve
been looking at the passage above for some time now as part of my Holy Spirit word
study. So often I’ve felt inadequate when it comes to the concepts of
evangelism and mission. I’m not certified in any way, shape, or form to “lead a
person to Christ.” I don’t know the Roman Road, haven’t memorized scripture,
and I don’t have the “plan of salvation” written out in neat little brochures
to hand out to people. And as far as mission is concerned…My health issues make
me unsuitable for rebuilding roofs, painting kitchens or traveling in third
world foreign countries. So it is easy
to see how I feel unqualified and unable when it comes to evangelism and
mission.
But
what Paul is saying here is that none of that matters. He had been the model
Pharisee until Christ called him on the road to Damascus—going to church every Sabbath,
giving a tenth of everything he had (even the spices in his kitchen), and making
sure he removed himself from the company of sinners so as to remain righteous. Because
of this, he had great knowledge, was trained extensively in the God’s Word and
had committed it to memory. He was capable and unhindered when it came to
traveling throughout the world and was handy with tools. He had everything I
feel I lack, but none of this was of value to him when it came to” leading the
Gentiles to obey God.”
Instead,
he relied on the Holy Spirit to open the eyes and ears and hearts of those Paul
encountered. The Spirit used Paul’s life as the testament of God’s love. Paul’s
witness to God’s grace in his life was, by the Spirit’s power, evident in Paul’s
faith and in his sacrificial love for the people he met. Saul’s redemption and new life as Paul was a
signpost to all – You too can have the healing and hope you see in me.
So
of course I started to look at my own life looking for the signposts and the
first thing I had to realize is that the signposts of my life are not there for
me, but for others. So what is the Spirit saying to people through the example
of my life? There have been many miracles of healing in my life and what I
learned from them is that I am loved, I am not alone, and I have value. My
past, as painful as it was, is not a wretched memorial of a time gone by, but a
living breathing symbol of the hope of Christ in a sinful world.
This
is the message the Spirit speaks to you through my writing and my living:
You
are loved!
You
are not alone!
You
have value!
3 comments:
Beautiful, Maureen. And there are all kinds of mission - even something as simple as contributing to the making of a meal for folks doing the labor or paying a youth group to wash your car as a fundraiser is still participating. And the very best evangelism is simply telling people that first bit of theology most of us learn - Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so - and helping them see it applies to them, too. I happen to know you so that kind of evangelism regularly. Yay you!
What a wonderful post Maureen! You show the Holy Spirit in ways you'll never truly understand.
Thank you for sharing...
You are loved
You're not alone
You have value
There it is in a nutshell!
Your mission field lies just beyond the blank page where your words reach out and touch all who read them. And that, my friend, has tremendous value. Thank you for stepping out in faith and sharing your words with those of us who need them.
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