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THE BEST CHRISTIAN

February 28, 2010

    A little child gazed up into the eyes of his father and asked, “Daddy, what is a Christian?”  His father replied, “A Christian is a person who obeys God.  He loves his friends and neighbors and even his enemies.  He prays often and is kind and gentle.  He is like Jesus.  That, Son, is a Christian!””

    The boy looked serious for a moment, and then asked, “Daddy, have I ever seen one?”

    The word “Christian” is common today; but it was given to early believers by those who observed their lives.  As the world watched they began to say, “We thought Christ was crucified and buried, but somehow he is back among us.  These people are replicas of the Nazarene.  They talk like he did; they act like he did.  Christ must be in them.”  So, they coined the word, “Christian” which means, “little Christ.”  The Scripture says, “In Antioch the followers were called Christians for the first time” (Acts 11:26, edb).

    That’s our heritage and that’s our responsibility!

    In fact, you may be the best Christian somebody will ever know.  If that’s true, then what kind of Christian should you be?  If some person’s idea of God and Christianity is going to be determined by your life, will it be positive or negative?  Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world” (Acts 1:8, edb).

    The power of witness lies in our character, our speech and our actions.  When a person accepts the Lord, that means they are actually receiving him into their lives.  If you’ve invited him into your heart, then he lives in you.  Paul said, “Christ lives in me . . .” (Gal.  2:20a, LB).

    That’s the witness John was describing when he said, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself . . .” (1 John 5:10a, kjv).

    Now, a witness does not judge, condemn or assign punishment.  Instead, a witness shares what he has experienced and lives accordingly.  So, how can we be witnesses?

I. FIRST, WE CAN BE AN EXAMPLE THROUGH OUR CHARACTER.

    James said, “Anyone who brings a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and will cause many sins to be forgiven” (James 5:20, edb).

    Once a group of evangelists came to a little town in Indiana.  When they confronted a Mennonite farmer with the question, “Brother, Are you saved?”

    He asked the questioner for a pencil and paper and listed the names of 10 of his neighbors.  Then he said, “These people have lived by me and worked with me.  Go and asked them if I’m a Christian.”

    If you did that, what would your associates say about you?

    The way we treat and relate to people reveals our true faith.  That’s being an example by our character.

II.  NEXT, WE CAN INFLUENCE OTHERS BY OUR SPEECH.

    Jesus said, “Go and make followers of all people in the world . . . Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you” (Matt.  28:19a-20a).

    Once a Sunday School teacher named Edward Kimball led a shoe clerk to Christ.  The clerk, Dwight L.  Moody, became an evangelist.  He inspired F.B. Meyer, the pastor of a little church in New England.  Meyer, preached on a college campus and won a student named Wilbur Chapman.  Chapman worked in the YMCA and hired a former baseball player named Billy Sunday.  Later, Sunday held a revival in North Carolina.  His success inspired a campaign by Mordecai Hamm.  During one of Hamm’s meetings, a young man named Billy Graham came to Christ.  Since then, millions have heard the gospel.  The Sunday School teacher named Kimball had quite an impact. 

    And that’s influencing others by our speech.

III.  FINALLY, WE CAN SHARE THE GOSPEL BY OUR DEEDS.

    Jesus said, “You are the light that gives light to the world . . . You should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven” (Matt.  5:14,16).

    Once a ragged child was looking in a beautiful store window.  But his eyes were not on the toys.  Instead, he looked beyond those things to a pair of boots.  This little boy was standing there with no coat, and with his feet wrapped in rags.

    Just then, a limousine pulled up in front of the store and a chauffeur opened the door for a lady.  When she noticed the little boy standing here, she took his hand and led him into the store.  She got him a warm coat, a warm cap, some warm socks, and then that beautiful pair of fur-lined boots.  As she was outfitting the child, he looked up at her with tears in his eyes and said, “Ma’am, are you God’s wife?”  She smiled and said, “No, but I am one of his daughters.”

    That’s sharing the Gospel by our deeds.

    It’s estimated that in our lifetime, each of us will greatly influence at least 75 people.  After every encounter between two individuals, they each go away either better or worse. 

    There’s an old legend, that when Jesus ascended into heaven, Gabriel welcomed him home and said, “Master, you brought salvation to all people, didn’t you?”  “Yes!”

    “You taught a message that will liberate men and women from guilt and sin?”  “Yes!”

    “You made possible an abundant and joyful life?”  “Yes!”

    “But, master, does everybody know this?

    “ No,” replied Jesus.  “Only a few.  But I told them to share this good news with others until everyone on earth has heard.”
    “But,” Gabriel protested, “What if they don’t?  What if they get busy and forget?”

    Quietly Jesus answered, “I’m counting on them.  I have no other plan!”

    Our world has problems.  Our nation is in trouble!  Our families are dysfunctional!  Many people are turned off of religion and hostile to Christianity.  The latest research shows there are 3 things that unchurched people are most critical of: Self-righteous Christians who judge others; unfaithful Christians who don’t support their own church; and congregations that engage in church fights and church splits. 

    We must be better witnesses.  We must bring others to Christ.  In the New Testament, Jesus healed about 40 people.  Of those, 34 were brought to him by friends or family members. 

    A missionary surgeon in one of China’s hospitals restored sight to a man who had been blinded by cataracts.  A few weeks later, to his great surprise, 48 blind men showed up on his hospital’s steps.  They had all come to be cured.  Amazingly, these blind men had walked more than 250 miles from a remote area of China to get to the hospital.  They had traveled by holding on to a rope.  Their guide was the man who had been cured.

    Witnessing is sharing our blessings with others.  It’s not judging, advising, arguing or preaching.  It’s simply one hungry beggar telling another hungry beggar where to find bread.

    Solomon said, “A good person gives life to others; the wise person teaches others how to live” (Prov.  11:30, edb).
    Daniel said, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever”” (Dan.  12:3, niv).

“Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you” (I Peter 3:15

    In the old days, the light house keeper was warned by Coast Guard authorities, “If your light goes out or is dimmed, people will die.  Lives are in your hand.”  That’s witnessing.

    If you are the best Christian somebody knows, how many people will be converted?  If you were the only witness God had here on this earth, how long would it take for the gospel to reach the whole world?

    Paul said, “Christ lives in me.” And if you are a Christian, Christ lives in you.  The Lord lives in you because he wants to do through you exactly what he did when he was here on earth.  He wants to go about doing good through you.  He wants to extend a helping hand to the needy through you.  He wants to speak words of compassion to the fallen through you.  He wants to introduce people to the Father through you.  He is living in us in order to do these things today.

    You may very well be the best Christian somebody knows.  Will you be a Christlike witness?                                                 
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Copyrighted 2010 by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS MESSAGE IN ANY WAY YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.  The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in PUBLISHED works. 

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