If you really want to be used by God, you’ll need this …

Over the years I have trained many people how to use a specific evangelistic tool and method that is highly effective in communicating the Gospel.

As I’ve equipped some of these people, I occasionally hear some share how they want to be used by God in a mighty way to reach as many people as possible with the Good News of Jesus.

That sounds fantastic!

But I’ve noticed something about some of these folks — some never put to use their training, but continue to talk about wanting to be used by God in a mighty way.

What I’ve learned is, some people want to be a “super star” for God without the work. Instead of starting by sharing the Gospel with a single lost soul — winning just one — they sit and “dream” of something more grand, from much less effort.

And so they sit.

From what I see in scripture, God isn’t a judge on some spiritual talent show picking the church’s next super star. If you really want to be used by God you’ll need something more than dreams of fame, what you’ll need is a servant’s heart.

Gary Inrig tells in his book, “A Call to Excellence,” a story that shows how having a servant’s heart was foundational for God using one man who would become famous for the kingdom …

A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.

Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s only famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.

When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never knew by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret. Perhaps the episode is a vital insight into why God used D. L. Moody as He did. He was a man with a servant’s heart and that was the basis of his true greatness.

Long before Moody, Jesus demonstrated to His own disciples the need for a servant’s heart …

“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ‘You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.’ ‘No,’ Peter protested, ‘you will never ever wash my feet!’ Jesus replied, ‘Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.’ Simon Peter exclaimed, ‘Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!’ … After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, ‘Do you understand what I was doing? You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,” and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them,” John 13:1-9, 12-17.

Jesus demonstrated a servant’s heart by humbling Himself to wash the feet of His disciples. He also spoke clearly about the need for a servant’s heart …

“But Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Matthew 20:25-28.

To be used by God doesn’t look like a spotlight, it looks like a towel and a basin of water. Are you waiting on the first, or willing to take up your towel as a servant?

Scotty