Wow! It’s November already and with the leaves falling and cooler weather coming, we’ll be hearing a lot about the onslaught of flu season. You add to that the global awareness of the swine flu and you get a great deal of concern about children and adults that are contagious. This is a real threat and we certainly need to take precautions to battle these illnesses.

The Bible has much to say about us as followers of Jesus being contagious and infecting those around us with the love and “Good News” of Christ. Acts 1 says that we will be his witnesses in
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. I Peter 3:15 says to always be prepared to give the reason for the hope that you have. Romans 10: 14 asks “how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" Christ has given us the responsibility and blessing of having an affect on those around us and intentionally making a difference.

Read Matthew 5: 13-16.

This passage uses the two analogies of salt and light to illustrate how we as believers can have a positive influence on all those we come in contact with. Salt has a tremendous ability to make everything it touches more tasty & enjoyable; light is incredibly useful for finding your way, taking the right path and seeing clearly. Verse 16 says, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” How do you see yourself? Are you infecting those around you with goodness, encouragement, hope, and, ultimately, with the truth of God in love?

Bill Hybels puts it this way:

Deep in every true Christian, there is an awareness that we are on this planet for purposes greater than having a career, paying the bills, loving our families, and fulfilling our role as upstanding citizens. Even going to church and worshiping God – important as they are – sometimes leave us feeling that something is missing. What is it that’s absent in the lives of so many believers who are crying out for fulfillment? What on earth is God asking us to do? God wants us to become contagious Christians – His agents, who will first catch His love and then urgently and infectiously offer it to all who are willing to consider it. This is His primary plan, the one Jesus modeled so powerfully, to spread God’s grace and truth person to person until there’s an epidemic of changed lives around the world.

The interesting and amazing thing is that there are powerful benefits to those who are willing to take on this privilege. First of all life takes on a whole new spirit of adventure. This is followed by a strong sense of purpose that brings about real and lasting fulfillment as we join God in His work. The natural by-product is spiritual growth and spiritual confidence, and when we realize how much of an honor it is being God’s agent, and the enduring investments we are making in His eternal Kingdom, hopefully, we can see that the benefits far outweigh any barriers we may face.

Inspired by my newly formed growth group and our desire to affect our neighborhood, my wife and I held a “neighborhood watch” BBQ this past weekend in our front yard. We invited families from about 50 homes in the area and – to our surprise – around 27 families showed up to hang out, eat burgers, get some info on our neighborhood watch, and simply enjoy meeting each other. I feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me.

This season, I encourage you to try being a little more contagious!

posted by:
Jeff Koons
Pastor of Family Ministry & Men's Ministry