Growing up in church as a young boy, I always looked up to the preacher, teachers, and especially men in leadership. I thought they were some kind of super Christian that I could never attain. Deep down I thought that these men and women were so spiritual and godly that who am I to think I could be such a Jesus follower?

I wonder if others think or feel that way as well. Do people look inside the church and think to themselves that they could never be so spiritual and if not, why even try? Does this keep people from coming to know Jesus in the first place?

Paul and Barnabas had a similar problem when they were preaching in Lystra. After the Lord healed a crippled man through Paul, the people began to think that Paul and Barnabas were some kind of gods. Now, to their defense, they understood that only a deity had the power to heal someone like that.  They began to designate Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes and were going to offer sacrifices to them.

Paul cries out for them to stop and then he says these words in Acts 14:15,” Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”

Even today when we see a great preacher or evangelist we can mistakenly believe that they are some kind of awesome being. The truth is that we are all men and women of like nature. Oh sure, there are some who the Lord has blessed with great talent and gifts, but the Lord has given talents and gifts to all who have received Him. It is just that not all are called to the same task. But what we all are called to is to tell others about the Good News of Jesus Christ.

You see there are always those who will look at us and say that we are no better than them and who are we to think that we can preach to them? To this, we give the same answer Paul gave. Indeed, we are also men of the same nature, but we have good news.  Jesus saves. Then if people begin to think we are the best thing since sliced bread, we can use the same words. We are just men of like nature.

The bottom line is that the ground is always level at the foot of the cross, and the blood of Christ keeps it level. So, if you think that you must be some kind of perfect, blameless person to get right with God the answer is a big negative. Jesus and Jesus alone is who makes us right before a Holy God. We are told that it is not about works lest any man should boast. If we shall boast, let us boast about our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.