Be The Revival: Don't Wait "Til You're Great

I sat down today and stared at a blank screen, completely unsure what to type or where to start.

Thank goodness for pushy (and loving!)  friends...one in particular...who has said enough is enough and I need to write something!

Let's start with a pep talk.  More than anything, Christians need pep talks in order to stop hoping for Revival and to start Being the Revival.

The very first thing I have learned is this:

1.  DO NOT WAIT 'TIL YOU'RE GREAT

I bring your attention now to a passage in scripture that was first shared with me at SEMP (Son-life Evangelism Missions Project)...a week-long intensive training course in Chicago that changed my life.

Acts 4:13

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus."

 To really get this passage, you need the set up.  Read Acts 4:1-12.  John and Peter were preaching and got arrested for healing a man in the name of Jesus.  The Sadducees...a very scary, very powerful sect of Judaism...brought John and Peter into their midst for questioning.

This was not an organized American Court system . This was men, in a circular auditorium, seated on ancient bleachers, looking down on John and Peter both figuratively and literally.  (Now, this next part is from my Dad....a very wise biblical scholar) The prisoners were expected to face their questioner.  SO, the Sadducees would do rapid-fire questioning from opposite sides of the circle in order to intentionally confuse their victims/prisoners.  It was a terrible position for Peter and John.

But Peter gets bold...

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: ⁹ If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, ¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’^{[a] 12} Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Boo...flippin'...yah!!!

Peter stood up the to Sadducees.  Not only that, he pointed the finger back at THEM!  If there was a sound system there, I imagine Peter throwing his mic on the ground and strutting off the stage while "We Will Rock You" played in the background.

"Such a great man!" you say.  

"Oh, I could share my faith if I had THAT kind of courage!" you exclaim.

But wait.  Hold on.  Its not just his courage!  That's only half of it!

The Sadducees...

1.  "Saw the courage of Peter and John"

BUT they also...

2.  "realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men"

Their ordinary-ness was their secret weapon!!

Then what?   Did the Sadducees get super impressed with them and ask for their autograph?  Did they comment amongst themselves that they were obviously interviewing true greatness?

NO!

"They were astonished and took note that these men...

had

been

with

Jesus."

You feel a prompting in your heart.  You KNOW what you have to do.  You KNOW you need to view your neighbors, your friends, your family as people in need of truth and love.  But you are so scared!

"Oh, God!", you cry, "I am SO ordinary!"

"Oh, Lord!", you cry, "I am SO unschooled in how to do this!"

Perfect.

I can't tell you how many times, when talking to someone, the thought has popped into my head, "Ugh, I'm screwing this up.  I'm accidently making them an Athiest.  If my Dad were here instead of me, this person would get what I am trying to say."

No.  Wrong.  Total Lie.

If my Dad was supposed to talk to a lady on a flight from Amsterdam, God would have put my Dad in that seat.  But He did not.

If God wanted your pastor to share his faith with your neighbor, He would've had HIM fall in love with your house, get a good deal on it, and move in.  If God wanted anyone else in the universe to touch the lives in your sphere of influence, He would have done so.

He does not want anyone else in the entire universe.

He wants you.

And, here's the secret...Peter wasn't even all that brave.  Not on his own anyway.

He didn't whip up some courage before speaking.  He didn't dig deep and become a successful orator on his own merit.

No.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Hey, you have the Holy Spirit!  I have the Holy Spirit!

Your excuses are just excuses.  You literally have all the resources of heaven...including the Counselor and Helper.

Let me leave you with a pre-Holy Spirit passage, but one that reminds me why I can be ordinary and unschooled and still risk great things for God.

Exodus 4: 10-12

The Moses said, "Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent.  Neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow in speech and tongue.  The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth?  Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now, go!  I will help you to speak and will teach you what to say."

Don't wait 'til you're great.  It'll never happen.

God wants you ordinary and unschooled so that people will notice HIM not YOU!

On top of that...HE will give you the words.

Honestly, if God is in it and the Holy Spirit is working through you, you could stare at the person, throw up, then walk away, and God would use it.

I strongly suggest you write these verses on 3x5 cards like I did many years ago, and let them be a constant pep talk for you.

Now "Go"...as God says.  And Don't Wait 'Til You're Great.