Archive for March, 2014
Sharing Hope
Imagine being in the midst of a horrible famine. There are more hungry people than there is food to feed them. Babies and children with horribly distended bellies, parents unable to provide them with even the smallest meal.
Now imagine stumbling on an unimagined treasure: an enormous warehouse filled from side-to-side, top-to-bottom, with all the food needed to alleviate the famine and return its victims to health and vitality. All you would need to do is start sharing the news and point the way to the warehouse. You have a hope that could touch every single person.
A Legacy of Hope
The Bible records a very similar story in 2 Kings 7:3-9. Assyria had laid siege to Israel to such a degree, some within the cut-off city had turned to cannibalism to survive. It was an extreme time.
During this time there were, sitting at the city gate, lepers who are not allowed entrance due to their condition. Because of the severity of the famine, they decided to walk over to the Assyrian camp to look for food. Their reasoning was simple: we might as well try; if we stay here we will starve.
Totally unknown to them, God had scared off the army in the middle of the night. The lepers found an abandoned campsite with mounds of food and supplies. As they considered their unexpected blessing one said, “We should not keep this good news to ourselves. We should tell our people that they might be fed.” This is just what they did and the city was saved.
What if these lepers had refused or neglected to share the hope they had found? How would history have remembered them? Selfish. Careless. Unloving. All these would have been their legacy.
A Greater Treasure
God has entrusted us with a treasure far greater than food. He has entrusted us with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Physical hunger and famine are critically important, but spiritual deadness condemns people for both time and eternity.
How are we sharing this hope? Like these lepers, our sharing has to consist of more than words. Sharing hope is so much more than telling information. Hope is demonstrating through our lives how the gospel has changed us. As Pete Wilson says in Bible Studies for Life, “When it comes to sharing our faith with others, the minds of many turn to the idea of learning a set gospel presentation. In our culture, though, people don’t want to just hear the truth; they want to see it. We should certainly talk about the hope we have in Christ, but we must support what we say by living it out and showing hope to others.”1
But, isn’t this what people should expect? If we claim to have a message from the King of Kings, should the truth of that message not be reflected in our lives? If not, what kind of message do we have, anyway?
Let us both proclaim the hope that we have and live in such a way that makes that hope obvious.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
General Editor, Bible Studies for Life
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
This is what Leaders Do
Leaders rally people to go places in their lives they would never go on their own. Perhaps they would have never thought about going there or been willing to go by themselves.
Isaiah 42 is a prophetic chapter about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Even though ultimately about Jesus, it does share some powerful truths for any leader. God can teach us more about leadership than anyone else and He knows all about the future! Isaiah 42:16 says,
“I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.”
Think with me about this passage.
Think about what God does for Us
Personally, this is what God does for us through Jesus Christ. Jesus takes us to places that we would never go on our own. They are uncharted waters in our lives. In those moments of uncertainty, Jesus shows up and works in our lives miraculously. He does it not only in salvation, but again and again. Once He is there, He is there forever. Leaving His children is something God never thinks about.
Think about what Leaders do for Others
When you lead toward the future, you are doing for people what God does for you. You take people into experiences, dreams, and visions that they would have never seen on their own. And, at times, places where few have gone. In these historic risks of faith, God shows up and moves miraculously. He does it not only once, but again and again. As you lead, you realize one of the most powerful things about leadership: God is with you.
A Personal Testimony
I have been a local church pastor for over three decades. In fact, I have been leading the same church for over twenty-five years. I could name so many experiences and dreams I have been privileged to lead our people through in “Reaching Northwest Arkansas, America, and the World.” Yes, some of them have been challenging. But every time, God has been there with us, showing Himself strong again and again. My heart is full of praise even as I reflect on these experiences, because of the way He has worked among us.
A Final Charge
When you lead others, do not let your fear stop you. Do not permit the unknown to become your master. God is with you, so act like it. Lead like it. Live like it. Pray like it. Lead them where they have never been and know that He is with you.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.