By Doug Creamer
Ordinary People
Have you ever looked around your church and realized how lucky and blessed you are to be in the family of God? My family has been through some challenging things recently, and my church family has stood with me and supported and encouraged me through it all. We never know how much a hug, pat on the back, or simply asking about a situation can really make a big difference.
Knowing your church family is praying for you and with you can make all the difference in whether we press through or give up. You don’t have to be a giant in the faith or a designated church leader in order to offer your prayers, love, and support to your church family. The Bible teaches us that the elders are called to pray for church family members. That doesn’t mean that we can’t pray for people in our church family. Our prayers are powerful and effective.
My recent Sunday school lessons have been about the twelve disciples. I have been digging into their lives and have found some very interesting things. One of my favorite lines is that God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things for His kingdom. The twelve disciples were just ordinary guys who were called out to turn the world upside down.
The Bible tells us that Judas took his own life after he realized what he had done. The Bible also tells us that one disciple was martyred, but tradition holds that nine others were also martyred for their faith in Jesus. It is believed that John, the remaining disciple, died of old age. The disciples paid a high price to get the word out that the Savior had come.
Jesus picked ordinary guys to be His followers. Several were fishermen. I imagine these guys were not holy men. They probably believed in God and knew the promise of a coming savior, but these guys were busy working at their trade. They probably missed services at the synagogue to go fishing. They probably lived self-centered lives.
Matthew was a tax collector and would have been hated by his fellow community members. Imagine the distrust between Matthew and his fellow disciples. Then you have Simon the Zealot, who was at least training to assassinate Roman leaders. We don’t know if he actually killed any Romans. He would have had a rebellious spirit, ready to participate in, if not lead a revolution against Rome.
These are the kind of men Jesus chose to surround Himself with during His time here on earth. They were ordinary men with all kinds of issues and problems that He turned into the disciples that we all know and love. It was these very unlikely men who literally gave their lives in order to spread the gospel.
It was these guys who healed the sick. They healed the crippled and restored the sight to the blind. They raised the dead. They restored the minds of those struggling with mental illness. They preached to the lost and saw them get born again. They were brave enough to speak truth to power. They saw visions, angels, and had spiritual dreams.
What is the difference between those guys and us? Obviously, they walked and talked with Jesus. But can’t we walk and talk with Jesus? Jesus empowered them by the Holy Spirit to do all the things they did. But didn’t Jesus give us the same Holy Spirit? You and I are just ordinary people, but how are we really any different than those early disciples? Just like them we have hang ups, doubts, worries, fears, failures, and we have all probably done things that don’t seem holy or very godly. Could Jesus use people, ordinary people, like you and me to reach the people in our sphere of influence with the love of God?
I want to encourage you to consider that maybe God can use an ordinary person like you and me to reach our world with God’s love. Maybe He will do some miracles through us. I’ve seen and heard of some in my lifetime. Maybe we are the ones that God wants to send to this generation. He doesn’t need super holy people to do His work. He needs ordinary people just like you and me who are willing to step out in faith and share our stories with the people He brings our way. Then we, like the disciples of His day, can step back and watch Him and the Holy Spirit do incredible things in people’s lives. He doesn’t need someone special, just someone ordinary like us!
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
