When Wycliffe Bible translator Doug Meland and his wife moved into a village of Brazil’s Fulnio Indians, he was referred to simply as “the white man.” The term was by no means complimentary since other white men had exploited them, burned their homes, and robbed them of their lands.
But after the Melands learned the Fulnio language and began to help the people with medicine and in other ways, they began calling Doug “the respectable white man.” When the Melands began adopting the customs of the people, the Fulnio gave them greater acceptance and spoke of Doug as “the white Indian.”
Then one day, as Doug was washing the dirty, blood-caked foot of an injured Fulnio boy, he overheard a bystander say to another, “Whoever heard of a white man washing an Indian’s foot before? Certainly this man is from God!”
From that day on, whenever Doug would go into an Indian home, it would be announced, “Here comes the man God sent us.”
Later on Doug was caring for a sick baby, holding the child in his arms all night as the baby cried with fever. In the morning the baby recovered and began to sleep. Later it was announced, “Here is the man that God sent us. This man must be Jesus.“ Later after baptizing a young family who trusted in Jesus Christ and spending many days teaching them about Jesus, it was then announced, “This man is not Jesus. This is the man who is just like Jesus.”
There was a hospice chaplain named Larry, who became friends with an 80-year-old lady named Mary. Mary was a hospice patient. Larry visited with her many times and was greatly impressed by her faith. One day, he got a call informing him that Mary had taken a turn for the worse and that if he wanted to see her alive, he’d better go that day.
Larry went to visit his friend and found her in a very deep sleep. Larry didn’t wake her up because he knew Mary had been in a lot of pain. But just as he turned to go, she opened her eyes wide and stared right at him. Mary looked intently and then said to him, “Oh, for a minute, I thought you were Jesus.”
They laughed about it for a moment and had a good visit together. Just two hours later Mary did see Jesus face to face. But Mary’s comment really hit a note with Larry. He later wrote: “I believe we all ought to be mistaken for Jesus, every once in a while. God has given you a mission, just as God gave a mission to Jesus. If you’re living it out, if you’re showing his unconditional love, if you’re treating other people with care and compassion, if you’re bringing good news to the poor, freedom to those whose lives are being torn apart by sin and if you are preaching the grace of God and forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ and Him alone, then maybe someone will look at your life and say, ‘Oh, for a minute I thought you were Jesus.’”
No we are NOT Jesus, but we are to be like Him. Jesus told us many times that we are His representatives in this world. Think about this: if we represent Him, if we bear His name, then shouldn’t we be like Him?
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