If Joe Could, So Can You!

INSIGHTS from Bill Bright
Reflections from the late Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ International

If Joe Could, So Can You!

God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise (1 Corinthians 1:27, NLT).

Dear friends:

Do you sometimes feel as though your looks, personality or abilities limit you from accomplishing anything significant with your life?

You see the "beautiful people" paraded on television, with their charming personalities, or the brains of the world featured on talk shows. You may think, "If I could just be like him or her, then I too could make something of my life."

When we first began the ministry at UCLA in 1951, I met a young man who was not at all attractive in appearance, and you could say that he had zero personality. But he was on fire for Christ and regularly God used him to introduce others to the Lord. He would call me on the telephone and share the wonderful experiences that he had and I would rejoice with him. It was truly a remarkable experience.

One day a mutual friend said to me, "If Joe didn't have the Lord, he wouldn't have anything, would he?" That is really true for all of us. Joe had no personality and no real abilities, except that he was consumed with the most important thing in life. He lived to share God's love and forgiveness in Christ with everybody who would listen and, in the process, he probably led more people to Christ than all the rest of the students together because he was so single-minded.

I am reminded that our Lord selected mostly a bunch of unlearned, ordinary people to be his disciples and to later turn the world upside down with the gospel after they were anointed for service.

This also reminds me of the apostle Paul, who obviously lacked much in human ability, but he was effective in his single-mindedness. He said, "I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (! Corinthians 2:1-5, NIV).

The Bible says, "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, NIV).

If Joe could be an effective witness for Christ, and Peter, John and Paul, so can you!

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright