The message and the messenger

Billy Graham was a man who shared the Christian message with more people than anyone else during the 20th century. He tells the story of a time when he arrived in a small town to preach. Wanting to post a letter, he asked a small boy where the Post Office was. When the boy told him, Graham thanked him and said, ‘If you come to church this evening you can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven.’ The boy said, ‘I don’t think I’ll bother, you don’t even know your way to the Post Office.’

Have you been put off religion, the church or God by the very people who are talking, teaching or preaching about these things? Perhaps you’ve been collared by an over-zealous, patronising or intense friend or relative who’s seeking to ‘spread the word’.

When in my twenties, I was on the receiving end of such. In retrospect, some of what was coming at me was actually good but the delivery could have been better!

Those of us that own the name Christian are to share the news about God’s purpose for men and women, its immediate relevance and future consequences. We can feel overwhelmed by the privilege and responsibility handed to us. Personally, I’m encouraged that even the apostle Paul (of Damascus Road fame), having considered the seriousness and the ramifications of spreading the message, asked, ‘..and who is equal to such a task?’ The unspoken answer is that none of us are.

Have advocates of God, and in particular Christianity, put you off? If so, before throwing out the baby with the bathwater, consider the content of the message and not so much the messenger. Put simply, we are to listen to and heed the message that says we should place our faith (i.e. trust) in God for our present and future well-being.

There has been, however, a perfect messenger, Jesus: He not only brought us the word of God but is himself God’s Word. So, if you fall in the bracket of ‘not yet a Christian’ don’t focus on the merely human messenger who brings the word to you, but look to the Word itself which is Jesus.

Addressing our inner heart, Jesus says, ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…’