Last night on the finale of “America’s Got Talent” an unemployed, singing, chicken catcher from Kentucky, who talks out of the side of his mouth and makes facial movements as if he had a chaw of tobacco, won the one million dollar prize. His gift is not that he was the best singer; he wasn’t. The lady who came in second is ready for the Met. She is that good. His gift was his ability to move us. When he sings you just know it comes from the heart of his heart. His ability to move people is one of the most valued gifts someone can possess.
I know a preacher who isn’t the world’s best Biblical scholar nor is he good looking. He isn’t eloquent. His Hebrew and Greek are barely existent. His off-the rack suit really doesn’t fit. He can’t sing. He would most likely get whipped in any Biblical debate. But when he starts talking about Jesus we want that same love experience. He never scolds from the pulpit nor tells us how bad we are. He just tells us how wonderful Jesus is. That’s his power. He moves me.
Nothing is more powerful than genuineness. “What you see is what you get” trumps mere eloquence any day. Sometimes we can fake it. But if we are around people for any amount of time it isn’t long before the real us starts to show. How grand it would be if we could grow to the place where we could be the most honest, the most caring, the person most like Jesus, just by doing what comes naturally. Paul said it so well when he wrote, “Let this mind be in you that was in Jesus.”
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 18, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org