Life Test

by Bobby Harrington

Will you take a life quiz? In fact, there are two life quizzes. Don’t worry, they won’t go on your transcript. Max Lucado helped me a few years ago with them. Here is the first one.

Life Quiz #1

Name the five wealthiest people in the country.
Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
Name five people who have won a Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
Name five athletes who won gold medals.
Name five Academy Award winners.

How did you do?

I didn’t do very well either. Yet these are the prominent people in the headlines and on television. They seem so important and successful. But to whom? The names are popular for a moment and then easily forgotten.

Several years ago I remember wandering into a cemetery in Princeton, New Jersey, looking at the tombstones of wealthy and famous people. It rocked me to see how dilapidated the tombstones and the area around them had become — nothing but crumbling rocks among weeds. These were famous people, I said to myself, and this is all that is left?

Okay, now for quiz number two.

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Life Quiz #2

Name five people who have made a difference in your life.
Name five people who have loved you and supported you.
Name five people who have helped you in a difficult time.
Name five people who have helped you in your spiritual journey.
Name the people who helped you commit your life to Christ.

Isn’t that a much easier test? It was for me too.

And what do they teach us? The people who make the biggest difference in our lives are not famous; they are everyday people who care about us and demonstrate their love for us. It’s those everyday, ordinary people who are most likely to help us on our spiritual journey.

Disciple making is about becoming that kind of person – one who loves and helps ordinary people (like you and me) to follow Jesus. The real tests of our life, in the end, will not be about fame, but about everyday decisions to help everyday people experience and know the love of Jesus. Disciple makers live their lives to become THAT kind of person!

This article is adapted from the forthcoming book by Bobby Harrington and Josh Patrick, The Disciple Makers Handbook (Zondervan, Feb 2017).

Image credit: Shutterstock