We are witnesses, not the Savior; servants, not superheroes.

Our responsibility is to tell the truth about Christ faithfully and allow the Holy Spirit to do what only GOD can do!!!

“God’s Power Does Not Need Our Exaggeration”

Song: “Let Go, Let GOD” by Xania Monet

Key Scriptures: Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:1–5; 2 Corinthians 4:5–7

Good morning, my brothers and sisters.

I want to leave you with a simple thought this morning: God’s power does not need your exaggeration.

Sometimes, because we love God and because we desperately want other people to know Him, we can begin to act as though God needs our help being God.

We think we have to make the story bigger.

We have to make the testimony more dramatic.

We have to have the perfect words.

We have to win every argument.

We have to convince everybody.

And sometimes we can even begin to think, If I don’t get this person to change, I have failed.

But I want to remind somebody this morning: You are not the Savior. Jesus is.

You are not the Holy Spirit.

You are not responsible for changing another person’s heart.

You are responsible for being faithful.

Paul said in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”

Notice what Paul said.

He didn’t say our presentation is the power of God.

He didn’t say our personality is the power of God.

He didn’t say our eloquence is the power of God.

He said the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

That means the message already has power.

The truth already has power.

Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and risen again does not need us to make Him impressive.

He already is.

We Don’t Have to Be Superheroes

Sometimes we want to be spiritual superheroes.

We want to ride in and rescue everybody.

We see somebody struggling, and immediately we think we have to fix them.

We see somebody who doesn’t believe as we believe, and suddenly we think it is our job to force them into agreement.

And sometimes, in our zeal, we can actually do more harm than good.

Because instead of introducing people to Jesus, we introduce them to our expectations.

Instead of saying, “Come and see what Christ has done,” we communicate, “Come and do it my way.”

Those are not the same message.

Paul understood this.

He told the Corinthians: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom… My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1, 4–5, ESV

Paul is essentially saying, I didn’t want your faith resting on how impressive I sounded.

Think about that.

Sometimes we are trying so hard to make people impressed with God that they end up being impressed with us.

Our knowledge.

Our preaching.

Our testimony.

Our vocabulary.

Our ability to quote Scripture.

But Paul said, I don’t want your faith resting on me.

Because if I have to manipulate you into believing, somebody else may manipulate you into unbelieving.

But when the Holy Spirit opens your heart to the truth of Jesus Christ, your faith rests upon something greater than human persuasion.

It rests upon the power of God.

Tell What God Has Done, You Don’t Have to Embellish It

And this is especially important when we share our testimony.

Tell the truth.

You don’t have to exaggerate where you came from.

You don’t have to make your past worse than it was to make your salvation sound greater than it is.

You don’t have to add something to the story so people will say, “Wow!”

Because salvation is already a miracle.

If God forgave you, that’s amazing.

If God gave you another chance, that’s amazing.

If God brought peace into your life, that’s amazing.

If God changed your heart, that’s amazing.

If God gave you hope when you had none, that’s amazing.

You don’t have to add anything to it.

Just tell people: “This is who I was. This is what Christ did. And this is who I am becoming because of His grace.”

That’s enough.

The power isn’t in making yourself the hero of the story.

The power is in making Jesus the center of the story.

We Are Servants, Not Saviors

Paul says something else that I think we desperately need to remember.

“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” – 2 Corinthians 4:5, ESV

Listen to those words: “We proclaim…not ourselves.”

That’s where we sometimes get into trouble.

Because somewhere along the way, we can begin proclaiming ourselves.

My church.

My denomination.

My method.

My interpretation.

My way of doing things.

And without realizing it, Jesus can become secondary to us trying to prove that we are right.

But our calling isn’t to make disciples of ourselves.

Our calling is to point people to Jesus Christ.

We plant.

We water.

We encourage.

We teach.

We pray.

We love.

We serve.

We tell the truth.

But God gives the growth.

And that should take some pressure off somebody this morning.

Maybe you’ve been praying for your child.

Maybe you’ve been talking to a spouse.

Maybe you’ve been witnessing to a friend.

Maybe you’ve been trying to reach somebody who seems determined not to listen.

You don’t have to force it.

You don’t have to manipulate them.

You don’t have to frighten them into the kingdom.

And you certainly don’t have to exaggerate what God has done.

Be faithful.

Speak the truth.

Love them.

Pray for them.

Live what you preach in front of them.

And then trust God with what you cannot control.

Maybe They Need to See a Servant

The graphic that inspired this message says something I love: Sometimes we want to be a superhero, but all God is asking us to be is a good and faithful servant.

Maybe the person you’re trying so hard to impress doesn’t need to see a superhero.

Maybe they need to see a servant.

Maybe they need to see somebody who will sit beside them.

Listen to them.

Love them.

Feed them.

Encourage them.

Pray with them.

Walk with them.

And quietly demonstrate what the love of Christ looks like.

Because sometimes our loudest testimony isn’t what comes out of our mouths.

It’s how we treat people when they are hurting.

Leave the Results to God

So here’s what I want you to carry with you today:

God’s power does not need your exaggeration.

God doesn’t need you to make Him bigger.

God doesn’t need you to make the story better.

God doesn’t need you to save anybody.

He simply calls you to faithfully point people toward Jesus.

Tell the truth.

Share your testimony.

Preach Christ.

Love people.

Serve people.

And leave the results with God.

Because there is freedom in understanding:

I don’t have to be the superhero.

I just need to be a faithful servant.

And one day, the words we should desire to hear aren’t, “Well done, good and impressive superhero.”

No.

Jesus said: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” – Matthew 25:21, ESV

That’s the goal.

Not impressive.

Faithful.

Not exaggerated.

Truthful.

Not drawing people to ourselves.

Pointing people to Jesus.

Because God’s power doesn’t need our exaggeration.

God’s power simply needs faithful witnesses who are willing to tell the truth about what Jesus Christ has done.

And that’s your morning message.

Be faithful today.

Tell the truth.

Love people.

Point them toward Jesus and trust God with the rest.