REFLECTIONS

Kingdom of Priests

Billy Graham stood on a large stage before a crowd of thousands. His message that day was direct and clear just as one would expect from watching his crusades on TV. To conclude his message Dr. Graham looked out on the capacity crowd and extended an invitation to come forward and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It was stunning to see the parade of people pouring onto the floor of the stadium to give their lives to Christ. It was amazing to watch this man’s gift of persuasion and influence at work in the lives of so many. But the work with those new seekers had only begun.

God used Billy Graham to send the message, but as the thousands made their way to the center of the stadium to receive Christ, there were hundreds waiting to receive them, to pray with them, and to help them map the next steps in their lives. And those next steps involved hundreds more to teach them, to meet their emotional needs, to love them, and to prepare them to eventually go into the world to make disciples themselves.

Most of us are not blessed with the persuasive giftedness of Billy Graham. Few of us will ever have an audience of thousands to influence to accept Christ as their Savior. But some of us have the gift to receive them when they come; some of us have a gift to teach them God’s holy word; some of us can encourage them as they face the daily trials of life. And some have gifts to equip them to go into the world to make disciples just as Jesus commanded.

The Lord has made us a kingdom and priests to serve God. Our kingdoms are our spheres of influence. We all have one, only the size and nature of them makes them different. Dr. Graham had a kingdom of large stadiums and TV audiences, but yours may be simply your home where you are called to bring up a child in the way he should go. Or your kingdom may be your workplace where you are called to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or it may be an athletic field where competition is fierce, but you play the game with the call to love your neighbor as yourself.

Each of us is a kingdom and a priest—a unique sphere of influence with unique gifts that we carry into all the world and make disciples. That’s what Jesus was talking about when He said,

You are the light of the world,

Richard +www.reflectingthesavior.org

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