The Christian worker has to be a sacred “go-between.” He must be so
closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that
Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am not
referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being
superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through
every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts
of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New
Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis
of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which
otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects
of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth
regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who
listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of
God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than
His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that
as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He
alone can do.
When we say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating
person, and what wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the
gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because
the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person
attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however,
he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what
Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we
are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).
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