“What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” I Cor. 3:5-7

 
One of the things that I enjoy about preaching is receiving feedback from those who are listening carefully and thinking about what is said.  A few weeks ago, we read together the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8) and one of the points in the message was that “at just the right time” Philip came alongside the Ethiopian and explained the scriptures to him.

One of you passed along an article to me that had to do with drug and alcohol interventions that had a direct connection with the message of Acts 8.   The fundamental point of the article is that successful intervention is a process that involves many different people who take risks in another person’s life to bring about positive change.  Forty is a representative number for how many “interveners” it typically might take before the change happens.  The first twenty people who try to intervene experience very little sense of achieving much good; persons twenty through thirty may get the sense that they are being heard, but still don’t see any tangible results; persons thirty through thirty nine see some positive signs, but often feel as if they’ve failed because the movement does not result in true change.  Only the 40^th person has the amazing experience of having his words acted upon and the positive change becoming a reality.

The article concludes this way:  “All have been an irreplaceable part of the whole.  We never know when we act on the decision to intervene whether we are person number five or person number thirty, and, unless we happen to be the fortieth person, we may never know.  We must take courage from the fact that we are a part of this larger process, and that our contribution does matter in that process.  Every person who speaks up in courage and love and concern advances the process.”

When it comes to witnessing to others about the gospel, the analogy is clear.  We must continue to courageously speak up for Christ and take opportunities to put in a good word for him, regardless of whether we see tangible results.  Take those opportunities to share Christ, invite people to worship, put in a good word for God and the Bible, and be bold.  Most importantly don’t get discouraged when you see little or no results.  You don’t know which number you are in the long line of people who are contributing to an individual’s journey to Christ.   Most of the time you are person one through thirty nine and that is an indispensable role to play.   Rarely will you be the 40^th person but that does not mean your efforts have been in vain.  DTW