I read a story a while back about a mother who was preparing pancakes for her two sons. Her boys, Kevin who was 7 and Ryan who was 5, began to argue over who was going to get the first pancakes. They began yelling at each other, calling each other names, even running over to the stove to see if they could get those pancakes first.
When this mother saw this entire event happening, she saw an opportunity for a moral lesson. She told her sons, “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, let my brother have the first pancake... I can wait.” There was a pause, and their mother waited as Kevin turned to his younger brother; she knew that this was the moment of truth; she knew that this was the defining moment that would make Ryan look up to his older brother for the rest of his life. As Kevin turned to his younger brother, he said; “Ryan...you be Jesus!”
This was not the response that this mother had expected, but I believe that this is how we are a lot of times in our Christian faith. We want the other person to be Jesus. Take a look at these words in 1 John 2:6:
“Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”
I share this with you because I believe that this could serve as a charge for our church. If we claim to be Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, then we must talk, and walk, and live like Jesus. We need to start loving those in our lives whom we’ve deemed unlovable; we need to become beacons of hope to those who are lost in a sea of hopelessness; we need to start serving a community that is desperately in need of a loving God. If this is the message that we as church are trying to get across to a community that doesn’t know Christ, then we can’t ask other people to be Jesus, we need to be Jesus to them. I can think of no better time to start than now.
For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. John 13:15 (NASB)
God's Plan for Sharing (GPS) will have a special evangelism campaign every other year beginning in 2010 and continuing through the year 2020. The first of these campaigns is called Across North America and is considered a Sowing event. This evangelism campaign is designed to get the gospel into every home in North America during the 2010 Easter season. Just imagine the spiritual impact of every Southern Baptist church working together to sow the gospel all across North America! Participation is easy! Across North America is four simple steps:
Right now, let’s all pray for the success in reaching the lost.
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