About midway through 1 Corinthians 14, Paul gives an example of a non-believing person witnessing a worship service in which the presence of God is evident (1Co 14:25). Throughout chapters 12, 13, and 14 Paul addresses the "gifts" of the Spirit. He explains that every thing in the Body of Christ should lead to edifying the believers around us. I see in my own life that Pride often fills my heart—like a slowly expanding bubble. At times, I begin to feel that I have such an intimate relationship with the Lord that I could speak Truth and lead anyone into a relationship with Him.
Whenever I get to that point, it is important to remember what the Bible says I am: absolutely nothing apart from Christ.
The truth that absolutely nothing I do can lead someone to faith in Jesus is at first, quite frustrating. That is only for Him to do (Heb 2:10). As people have said, we are merely called to take Jesus to others, and He will lead them to Himself. However, what at first seem frustrating soon becomes freeing as we place all trust in Him. But in order to do that, you must let go of yourself...
It is more important to be on our knees in prayer than it is to be bold with our faith. Orare est Laborare in Latin means, "to Pray is to work." As Christians, we rely too heavily on ourselves to be Christ-like, and we rely too little on the Spirit of God.
"For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." Gal 6:8
Just the other day I saw an image of a famous painting—luckily I took a couple of Art History classes in college so I was vaguely familiar with the piece. It was Theodore Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa. The painting shows numerous suffering men and women aboard a make-shift raft, desperate for rescue. Even in light of a fleeting hope that perhaps some distant ship could rescue the prisoners, there is nothing than anyone can do to help their condition. Apart from apparent political statements that Géricault was making about the French Government, this painting to me has always simply shown a horrible, desperate scene of hopeless people, drifting toward an inevitable death.
That is our mindset as Christians—because this painting is our reality. We still are in a world infested with sin, and we still posses bodies of flesh that long for self-gratification. We are floating helpless in this world and unless (not until) we realize that without God we truly can do nothing, our lives will have zero impact. For we will remain just like everyone else... obsessed with idols of this world.
I must wake up each morning and fall to my knees pleading for the Lord to fill me with His Spirit, for apart from Him I am nothing. Nothing but a helpless dying soul on The Raft of the Medusa.
The Raft of the Medusa, Géricault 1819
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