The other day I saw an interview with Tim Tebow. You who follow football should know who Tim Tebow is. He’s a former professional football player and who has now become a professional baseball player. But, he’s more than that. Besides writing books and playing baseball, what he is doing now is making movies—movies that he hopes can influence people in a positive way. But, that’s not all. He also goes to other developing countries to help children in need. This young man got his plate full and all for a good cause—Christ’s.
What is perhaps unbeknownst to us is that Tim was not born and raised in the United States; he was actually born and raised in the Philippines where his parents served as missionaries. Growing up in a developing country and being raised by godly parents shaped his perspective about life. There was something that he said about his parents that I’d like to highlight. He said they “didn’t tell us about loving people; they showed us what loving people really look like.”
That’s my desire for me as a husband, a father (and now as a grandfather!), and a pastor. And, that’s my desire for us, too. I desire that we don’t tell each other about loving people; instead, we show one another what loving people really look like. And, not necessarily at church, more importantly outside the church.
Sharing his perspective on revival, Pastor Chuck Swindoll says, “Revival is not so much about what happens in a church; it is about what happens when people repent of their sins and turn by faith alone to Christ alone.” A church should not be the center of God’s activities; where we spend most of our time is to be the center of God’s activities. We worship and serve God collectively at church; but we worship and serve God individually outside the church.
Pastor Paul