His Faith Showed
William Greathouse saw his mother turn from a nominal Christian to a committed one, and it impacted him. He made a commitment to Christ himself, and as a young man felt called to ministry. Over the years he was called to pastor a number of Nazarene churches in the United States, and he was greatly admired and loved as a pastor and leader.
Walking with God Visibly
In the book Crucified With Christ: The Life and Ministry of William Marvin Greathouse, the authors share the words of a man named Walt Moore who edited a Nazarene magazine in the 1960s. Greathouse had just been recalled to his church for another four-year stint of ministry, and Moore wrote these lovely words about Greathouse in his magazine: "He walks with God and it shows. It shows in his ministry. It shows in his leadership. It shows in his everyday living."
That phrase stuck with me: "it shows". It seems that Pastor Greathouse was not just a Christian by name, or by association. He was not just a nominal Christian, as his mother had been before her conversion. No—his close walk with God showed.
Could the same be said of you and me?
Radiating Christ's Presence
I am convinced that Jesus was this way—people could sense His closeness with the Father when they were near Him. I think the same was likely true of Paul, and Peter, and John and James. And I think there were many down the years whose closeness with God showed—it radiated from them.
But then I also think of the countless unnamed and unremembered faithful Christians throughout history, who were never written of, but whose faith and closeness with God showed in their lives. Long forgotten by history, they're not forgotten by God. They're with Him now, and their faithful witness was well rewarded when they met Him face to face.
Greathouse is not as widely known as some others, but how he impacted his world—and it was his closeness with God that showed to all who interacted with him.
My prayer is that today, as you and I go about our business, our closeness with God will show. May our words, our actions, our thoughts even, be so aligned to Jesus and His ways that—to use the words of Paul, we "shine like stars" in God's name.
