05/30/2016
I wonder if you just might see yourself in this short read?
Go ahead and test your vision!
Some years ago, I remember meeting the late founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Bill Bright, in Washington D.C. at a very nice hotel.
He was eating with a man who ran the retirement fund for the Southern Baptist Convention. The latter was dressed in a black flowing coat with a white silk scarf dr**ed around him like a man who had just stepped off a plantation, circa 1850’s.
I was to meet with Mr. Bright and I remember how I judged that man and the whole setup at the time.
Later, I was invited to Colorado Springs for a leader's meeting with Campus Crusade. Bill was speaking about the 40-day fast. I distinctly remember a man from the ranks who was clearly from the church body, standing up from the crowd and telling Bill, as rotund as he was, "How can a man with your girth talk about a 40-day fast?"
Bill's reply still has impacted me to this day. Instead of anger and asserting his position in the organization or calling this person out that works for him, he simply laughed and said, "You should have seen me before I started fasting!"
A year or so later, I was in Dallas at a Bible church meeting with a missions pastor. He had his mountain bike prominently hung from the ceiling behind his large desk and looked like he had just stepped out of the cover of GQ Magazine. He ordered a dine-in lunch for us and I proceeded to wolf it down. At the end of our meal he said, "You are a missionary, look at how fat you are!"
I had just come off a 27-day food fast -- not juicing, just water and of course, coffee! I felt like whale dung. Needless to say, the meeting went nowhere other than listening to this person tell me what a slob I was.
Last year, I decided to take time for myself and get in shape like I was before I met Christ. Before being saved, I recall being in the gym every day, twice a day. I was ripped, to say the least, but had a terrible temper and was an accident waiting to happen.
After being regenerated, I saw that my bodybuilding was vanity for me personally and I would not continue. Of course, I put on weight but at 43, finally got myself back into shape that rivaled my earlier years. I was proud of my accomplishment and felt fit and in shape and ready for the rugged mountains of Central Asia.
I was then told by well-meaning Christians that I was vain and that I was walking in pride due to some weight progress posts on Facebook.
While hearing some of these comments, I was reminded that Charles Spurgeon was harassed for selling his chicken eggs instead of giving them to the poor. It was only after he died that they found that every dime from his egg sales supported the orphanages of George Mueller. He never said a word.
While preaching at a church in Colorado just a few weeks ago, a man came up to me and said, "I saw you from a distance and saw the ring in your ear and your goatee and thought, 'Oh my, what kind of derelict has the pastor brought in now!'"
He then said, "I listened to your message and was utterly humbled and ask you to forgive me for judging you by your looks." It took a lot of courage for that man to come up and be honest with me and I respect him for that.
I then went on to explain to him why I had my ear pierced and the circumstances behind it. I told him about how a few short years ago, I was broken and told God that I never wanted to serve Him again in the places I had been, that it had only left me broken, hurt and in pain. Then one night, while pondering whether my life was worth living anymore, around 3:00 a.m. and totally broken, I read the following:
"But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever." Exodus 21:5-6
In my pain and desire to flee, I went to the Lord and asked that He seal me and bind me in a way that was beyond my ability to run. Hence, my ear was brought to the post and pierced. That is what it meant to me, the purpose behind the earring. The man and I prayed together and we had a great time of rejoicing.
Over a year ago while in Dallas, I was preparing to speak at a revival conference that would be held at the headquarters of Gospel for Asia. As I was leaving my hotel, I stopped and went into the bathroom, looked into the mirror, and began to pull the ring from my ear as I had previously noticed that the majority of the people in attendance were very conservative lovers of Jesus.
As I pulled the ring from my ear, I stopped dead in my tracks as I heard a thundering voice from the Lord say, "Who told you to bring that ear to the post and who has sealed you as His slave for His glory alone?!"
I stopped and went in fear to preach, knowing that I would be called out as some social reprobate that was declaring rebellion by the way I looked. I ended up in a prayer group with K.P. Yohannan, and he looked up at me and said, "Who are you that knows the names of the persecuted and prays with personal passion. You prayed as if these people that suffer are your family."
I told him that I was acquainted with them via service to them around the world.
Here is the moral to this story: You may be chubby, you may be awkward, ugly and you may not fit the norm of the day.
You may have long hair and you may look like a Mennonite missionary, but if your heart is sold out to God, no matter your looks, He can and will use you.
The background you come from may have you tattooed and pierced or straight-laced and cut above the ears, but God and only God looks and sees the heart of those He has chosen.
I am not advocating rebellion or a look for shock value, but I have learned to hold back, at least a bit, before I make my call of who's in and who's out. As the old Irish Priest always said, "I prefer to prophecy, after the event!"
Take a second look at the person you are quick to first dismiss and see if perchance, God will give you His eyes to truly see.
Run to the Battle!
Kevin J. Turner
Strategic World Impact
Previously published 2014
