There were some very special words spoken by quarterback Russell Wilson after his team’s emphatic win in Super Bowl XLVIII, and I believe we can apply them as a word from the Lord to each of us.
Wilson, known as a committed Christian, is not the most likely candidate to play as an NFL quarterback, standing only 5’11” tall. But he says that his father, who died in 2010, always said to him as a boy, “Why not you, Russell?”
It was a lesson Wilson took to heart, sharing what he learned from his father with his team, the Seattle Seahawks. As he explained in a post-game interview, from the very beginning of the season, he said to his teammates, “Why not us?” And now they are the Super Bowl champs.
Of course, there’s a powerful lesson to learn about the positive impact a father can have on his children, instilling confidence and godly values in them from an early age. (Conversely, a father can have a terribly destructive effect on his kids by constantly demeaning and devaluing them.)
And it was touching to see how the words of Wilson’s dad, spoken to his smallish son, now helped motivate an entire football team of tough men.
But there was something else that struck me after the game: Why not us? Why can’t God use you and me to shake this generation with the gospel?
On my Feb. 3 Monday radio show—in other words, one day after the Super Bowl—I plan to address the question, “Why not a Jesus revolution now?”
Of course, I know that much of the church in America is in terrible shape, and I’m quite aware that our nation as a whole is spiraling into moral and spiritual chaos. And it wouldn’t surprise me if there was an economic collapse—or even worse—lying in our not-too-distant future.
But what does that have to do with the promises of God and the power of God? What does that have to do with the authority of the name of Jesus?
Are all the forces of hell greater than the gospel? Doesn’t the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwell in you and me?
Why not us? Why not now?
If ever there was a time for a Jesus-centered, Spirit-empowered, moral and cultural revolution, it is now.
Since when does God need a multitude to accomplish His will? Since when is He limited by having only a remnant through which to work?
“The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue” (Ps. 33:16-17, ESV).
As Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6). Yes, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
John Paton, one of the greatest missionaries in church history, related how he received the calling to leave Scotland and serve in the South Sea islands: “The Lord kept saying within me, ‘Since none better-qualified can be got, rise and offer yourself.’ Almost overpowering was the impulse to answer aloud, ‘Here I am, send me.’”
Gladys Aylward was a British housemaid who was rejected for service by the board of the China Inland Mission because of a serious learning disability. Against all odds, she saved her meager funds and eventually made her way to China—completely alone, without formal support. Her courageous service in China, especially in the midst of terrible war, is the stuff of legend.
Yet she didn’t even believe she was God’s first choice for the job! “There was somebody else,” she later said. “I don’t know who it was—God’s first choice. It must have been a man—a wonderful man. A well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing. … And God looked down … and saw Gladys Aylward.”
Today, God is looking down and seeing you and me—if we are willing to surrender our lives entirely to Him. If we are willing to turn our backs on the love of the world and take up our cross and follow Jesus. If we are willing to stop playing games with sin and live holy lives by the grace and power of God. If we are willing to seek Him in prayer and say, “Here I am, Lord. Make me fully usable. Use me to the full. Send me!”
Don’t worry about your lack of qualifications. The less qualified you are in the sight of man, the better qualified you are for God’s service, since “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor 1:27-29). Our only boast is in the Lord!
The harvest is ripe and the stage is set. It’s time for a radical move of God that will shake this nation from coast to coast.
The Lord is simply looking for yielded laborers who will make themselves available today—wherever you are, whoever you are.
So why not us? Why not you?
(For practical steps you can take, read “The 10 Commitments of a Jesus Revolutionary.”)
Michael Brown is author of Hyper-Grace: Exposing the Dangers of the Modern Grace Message and host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network. He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience. Follow him at AskDrBrown on Facebook or at @drmichaellbrown on Twitter.
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