More Like Jesus

Helen Roseveare graduated with her M.D. from Cambridge and applied to the World Evangelization Crusade. She did her language study, tropical medicine study and left for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she was the only doctor for two and a half million people.

One day, riding with her supervisor, he said, “If you think you have come to the mission field because you are a little better than others, or as the cream of your church, or because of your medical degree, or for the service you can render the African church, or even for the souls you may see saved, you will fail.  

Remember, the Lord has only one purpose ultimately for each one of us, to make us more like Jesus.”

It’s so easy to lose sight of this. We get so caught up on the “Go and make disciples” mandate for the church, we miss the personal one.

It becomes all about going and doing and making things happen. It’s about growth and numbers and exciting things we can tell our friends. We want to be a part of something. We want to see lives changed. We want to see revival.

Those are good things. They are worthy things. They are not THE thing.

If we miss that, we will accomplish much and leave a trail of bodies behind us. I have seen good men, with good hearts and good intentions, destroy good people who would have willingly followed them anywhere.

Why?

Because that’s what happens when I’m more concerned about the vision in front of me, than the heart inside me.