"In the next two or three hours Jesus healed many from diseases, distress, and evil spirits. To many of the blind he gave the gift of sight. Then he gave his answer: "Go back and tell John what you have just seen and heard:..."" Luke 7:21
John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to enquire of Jesus whether he was 'the one' or whether they were still waiting. Jesus could have just said "of course I am" and that would have been it. But he didn't. He made the disciples hang around for 2 or 3 hours and proceeded to heal lots of people. The actions were the proof, not the words.
If people were to spend 2 or 3 hours at Preston Salvos would they be convinced about God because of what they saw? If people spent 2 or 3 hours with me what would be the outcome?
Interestingly, the verse uses the word 'many' but not 'all'. Many were healed from diseases and many of the blind were healed. Presumably then, some weren't. So, we shouldn't expect a 100% strike rate or perfection in everything we do but, nevertheless, people should be more likely to consider God as a result of my actions than not. And actions do have more power than words.
Wow... There's a challange ! 2 or 3 hours for people to see Jesus at church would seem like a lifetime. Putting on our Sunday best comes easy to some.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it would only take a second or two to stuff it up (and other peoples perceptions of Jesus/Christianity too) - even at church we can be seen to be un-Christian like.