A drunk was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission. Prior to his conversion, Joe had gained a reputation of being a dirty wino for whom there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But following his conversion to a new life with God, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission doing whatever needed to be done. There was never any task that was too lowly for Joe to take on. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the vomit left by some violently sick alcoholic or scrubbing the toilets after careless men left the bathroom filthy. Joe did what was asked with a smile on his face and seeming gratitude for the chance to help. He could be counted on to feed the feeble men who wandered into the mission off the street, and to undress and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves.
One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evangelistic message to the usual crowd something unusual happened. One man looked up and came down the aisle to the alter and knelt to pray, crying out for God to help him to change. The drunk man kept shouting “Oh God make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!” The director of the mission leaned over to me man and said,”Son, I think it would be better if you prayed,’Make me like Jesus!’” The man looked up at the director and asked is “He like Joe”
(From Everything You’ve Heard is Wrong by Tony Campolo, Dallas:Word, 1992, pg.73)
I once heard someone say “You may be the only Jesus a person ever sees”. When people look at your life what do they see? Do they see an accurate reflection of Jesus. Are we demonstrating a Living God in a dying world? We need the power of God to change and transform our lives. God is not using our tolerance of sin but our transformation to Him to bring His love to the world. When will we be the kind of believer that makes others say ” make me like Joe”.
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