Real Man 4: Mr. Potential (Mark 3:18)
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Real Man #4–Andrew, Mr. Potential
Part 6 Real Man, from Mark 3:18
It seems like everyone loves to rip on men today–from sitcoms to commercials, men are portrayed as clueless. And some men believe it–they don’t think God can use them. But the only ones who actually believe that are those who don’t read their Bibles, for contained in the Word of God are examples of men who are clueless and flawed, yet God used them greatly.
Abraham was too old, Jacob was a liar, Moses had a stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid, Samson had long hair and was a womanizer, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, Jonah ran from God, David was an adulterer and a murderer, Peter denied Christ, Zaccheus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had an ulcer, and Lazarus was dead! No more excuses! God can use you in great ways, no matter what your failing, bent background difficulties or limitations.
Open your Bibles to Mark 3 and take your outline to follow along–we are studying the gospel of Mark, and have reached the section where Jesus is calling His twelve disciples. As Jesus names them, we are studying each one to learn from their lives. Each one of them was a real man–not great men, but guys like us, flawed, limited, sinful, doubting, and bumbling. Yet Christ uses men like them to turn the world upside down.
And God desires to take every man, woman and child here today and transform you into a tool for His glory–a vessel to show off Christ, a servant of the King. And for you men, He wants you to lead like a servant, be responsible for your families, serve in His church, and share the Gospel in this world. Christ calls you to act like men, act like God intended, to actually act like a man.
Paul put it simply and directly in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” And we are discovering what it means to “act like men” by looking deeply into the lives of the twelve disciples. As we open to verse 13, Jesus is now about to call His men. Christ will pray all night before He finalizes His team. He will pick twelve disciples to be His chosen followers. He’ll call these men to be with Him and send them out for Him. And He’ll give them great authority in order to represent Him.
Let’s read aloud starting in verse 13, “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons.16 [And He appointed the twelve:] Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, ‘Sons of Thunder’); 18 and Andrew.” We will compare our lives to Andrew, and learn what it means to be a man who sees potential for Christ. What do I mean? Look at point . . .
#1 Circumstances for Potential–before knowing Christ
When I meet someone new I ask, “Where are you from?” So Andrew, where are you from?” He’d say, “From Bethsaida, then I moved with Peter to Capernaum and shared a house with Peter while we operated our fishing business together. It was a good location since it was right by the north end of the Sea of Galilee, and right by the busiest northern trade route, which made it easy to sell our fish.
Another question I ask is, “Do you know anyone here?” Andrew would say, “My lifelong companions are James and John . . . we’re bros–likeminded, with hearts and hopes. In fact, we all took a sabbatical from fishing to follow John the Baptist. Hoping to pursue God from repentant hearts, we all want to make a difference–we all want to please God. Peter, of course, is the more vocal one, James the zealous one, John the lover, and me—Andrew–I see potential to glorify God in every little thing.” In fact, God made Andrew very unique.
#2 Created with Potential–developing Christ-created qualities
Andrew was an amazing man of God–a member of the dominant foursome, he enjoyed an intimate position close to Christ. He was the very first disciple, yet not first in rank, position or influence. He was the head of the line, but not the leader of the team. Andrew was the first chosen, but not the captain, which teaches us something very important. Not everyone is a chief, a gifted leader, an employer, or a preacher or teacher–yet everyone is crucial. What does Andrew teach us? He shows us the importance of . . .
First Holding your position lightly
In the dominant foursome, Andrew was closest, but not out front. How would you feel if you were in the inside group, but then were not included in the transfiguration, or seeing a child raised from the dead like the other three were–Peter, James and John did, but not Andrew? He was part of the inner four, but was not included in some key events–how would you feel? Most of us would feel left out, resentful, maybe even bitter. But not Andrew–it didn’t bother Andrew at all.
Andrew was the one who was responsible for introducing his dominant brother, Peter, to Christ. Andrew encouraged the one with great abilities–he brought the one who would become the leader of the twelve to Christ. And it didn’t bother him. Andrew was not insecure, not threatened, not intimidated, not concerned about others shining bright or dominating the group–all he cared about was bringing people to Christ. He held his position lightly. He also shows us the importance of . . .
Second Being a servant behind the scenes
Of the famous four, Andrew was the least obvious. We’re not told much about him in the Bible. In fact, you can count on your fingers the number of times he’s specifically mentioned. Not counting the apostolic lists, Andrew is listed only nine times in the New Testament, and usually is only mentioned in passing.
Andrew lived in the shadow of his better-known, charismatic brother–so much so, many of the passages which list Andrew only say he’s Peter’s brother, as if that is what made him significant. Those of you with famous, well-liked or successful brothers know what this is like. But not once is there any appearance of Andrew battling with jealousy at all. He was a servant behind the scenes, and . . .
Third Being comfortable in your own skin
Andrew was content, even happy, with his gifts and his calling. Of the inner circle of four, Andrew is the least contentious and the most thoughtful of others. Peter tended to be impetuous, hasty and impulsive to rush ahead, speak first and think later. James and John were sons of thunder, reckless and proud–always wanting to be the greatest. But there was no hint of that with Andrew. Whenever Andrew speaks in Scripture, which is rare, he always says the right thing, not the wrong thing.
Whenever Andrew acts apart from the apostles, he always does the right thing, not the wrong thing. The Bible never attacks, dishonors or rebukes when Andrew is mentioned by name. Andrew does follow the twelve into error as a part of the group, but never errs when acting solo, or whenever he is in the spotlight. Andrew is cautious, careful and certain. Andrew was comfortable in his own skin. Andrew served Christ greatly, knew Christ intimately, but was never center stage, and he was great with that. So Andrew shows us the importance of holding his position lightly, serving behind the scenes, being comfortable with how God made you, and finally . . .
Fourth Manifesting manly humility
Real men display a manly humility. Even though Andrew and Peter had totally different leadership styles, each one of them had a unique place on God’s team. The TC men returned from T4G, and we spent time while we were gone on each man, discovering how each man is unique. The New Testament says every one of his chosen children are unique—really, really different.
First Corinthians 12 tells us we need every genuine Christian in the body of Christ, whether a hand, an eye, an ear, a knuckle, a liver, or even the knucklehead. “For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”
Peter was the quarterback, but Andrew was the center. You know all about the quarterback, but not much about the center, but both are vital to the team and winning the game. Andrew is actually a better model for most of us to follow than Peter, since most of us here are behind the scenes people.
Do you know what Andrews name means? Are you ready for this? You’re gonna love this–this is so-o-o good! The name Andrew actually means “manly”. A manly man, a man’s man–and that is fitting and revealing. The inner circle—Peter, James, John and Andrew were not wimps–like me and a few of the men in the room, they had big guns. They were tan, manly men. You had to be strong to pull in those nets full of fish–Andrew was strong.
Andrew also had other characteristics of manliness–he was bold, decisive and deliberate. Nothing about him was feeble or unsure. He was passionate for truth, and driven to make it known. My best guess based on what we know from the Word of God and from the New Testament practice of naming someone after their qualities–Andrew probably was a big baby, and most likely grew into a burly, big, studly, buff, manly man. He was tough, gentle, humble and dependent. Andrew was one of those big, strong, confident men who don’t need to prove themselves. They’re not insecure. They don’t care who’s in charge, who takes the spotlight, as long as Jesus is honored.
You get the sense from Scripture that Andrew didn’t care what anyone thought–he only cared about what Jesus thought. It didn’t matter Peter was the main spokesman for Christ, or James was zealous for Christ, or John was super intimate with Christ. Andrew was saved by Christ, and all that mattered was that everyone met Christ. So here he is–a big, quiet, secure, manly man who loved Christ deeply. Do you know anyone like that?
I have–Jack Monk . . . you’ve seen him, or men like him. He was a maintenance man at Hume Lake Christian camps. He was over 60, completely bald, pointed nose, retired farmer, worked all the heavy machinery, dug out all the tree stumps, was assigned all the heavy jobs, was about 5 foot 10 inches tall, had a large pot belly, but wasn’t fat–was almost as wide as he was tall. He had huge shoulders, and arms as big as tree trunks—and he loved Christ. He impacted every guy on summer staff in a great way.
So to express our love to Jack on his birthday at the end of summer, we decided to throw him into the lake. That’s what men do–women give flowers and take someone out to lunch. Men throw each other into lakes. We had forty or fifty guys total–about twenty collegians, the rest were Vietnam vets, ex-pro athletes and more, and we knew in order to get him into the lake we’d have to handcuff him.
When the signal was given, forty plus men came out of hiding and jumped Jack, but to our shock, we could not move his massive arms together in order to handcuff him. Jack was so strong, forty men, many who themselves could bench over 300 pounds, could not move his arms together. Quickly, we also discovered his wrists were so big we couldn’t have cuffed him anyway.
We were all humbled that day, because twenty of us had to get completely wet in order to get Jack just two-thirds wet. He was the strongest man I ever knew, without an ounce of insecurity–intimidated by no one, yet a born again man with a steady, deep and genuine love for Christ. I think that was Andrew–he didn’t need attention, was not insecure, yet continued to maintain a faithful service to Christ. And when everyone else was flustered, Andrew saw potential. When everyone else was overwhelmed by fear, Andrew saw hope.
Pride blinds us, insecurity ruins us. Wanting attention messes with the Spirit’s work to exalt Christ. A constant focus on me blinds us to what God can do and God will do. Yet Andrew was so secure in who God made him and saved him to be, he saw all kinds of possibilities in others—how about you?
When Jesus first met big manly Andrew, he was already devout–Andrew had already joined the ranks of John the Baptist. John was known for his rugged appearance and Spartan lifestyle. Don’t kid yourself–it was rough out there with Johnny B. There is no “dessert” in the desert–no luxuries. John ate roasted grasshoppers dipped in honey, wore a scratchy camel’s hair garment, and lived in a moonscape-like wilderness.
And John’s followers were with him, cut off from all comforts and conveniences. They could hardly be considered soft. And Andrew was one of John’s disciples–Andrew had to be hard, tough and humbly dependent. A lot of real men in this room, are just like Andrew. Not all men are preachers like Peter, or super zealous in your face like James, or insightful, loving theologians like John. Some real men are just like Andrew–tough, secure, strong, servant, manly men who love Christ, and unshakably serve Jesus faithfully.
I love men like these, I respect men like these–full on “bro-mance”. My dad was an Andrew, and we have many Andrew-types at FBC. They serve faithfully, sacrificially, they don’t want recognition. They hate being up front, and never feel envious of others who are. They love their Savior, they love the Word of God, they love the true Church of Christ, they serve behind the scenes, and like Andrew they seek to bring believers to Christ–that’s a real man too. So then, how did Andrew get saved? How’d it all begin? Turn to John 1.
#3 Committed to Potential–meeting Christ in salvation
Andrew first met Christ in the wilderness where John the Baptist was preaching repentance and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. As one of John’s disciples, Andrew owned the importance of repentance, which is to change your mind in such a way as to radically alter your behavior, to turn from your way, to follow only God’s way–to stop doing what you wanna do and start doing what Christ wants–to ignore your feelings and thinking, and follow only the Word of God.
Andrew also knew all about God’s Kingdom, that the Lord would rule His children and one day physically and literally rule this planet. In the midst of this intense ministry, I believe Andrew witnessed John baptizing Jesus Christ, because it was the very next day when everything changed for Andrew. Jesus walks by the crowd, John’s disciples and John himself–and when Jesus does, John declares in John 1:34-36, “’I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.’ 35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’”
“Behold the Lamb of God”–at that moment, immediately Andrew left John the Baptist and began to follow Christ in verse 37. “The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” Andrew wasn’t being fickle or untrue to his master, John. Andrew wasn’t ditching one group of friends for another, like students do when they leave their friends for a more popular clique, or like Christians do when they leave one church for another church over preferences–no, nothing that shallow.
Just the opposite–John the Baptist had already declared that he is not the Messiah to his followers early in John 1. John pointedly told the crowds he was not the Christ–merely the forerunner to the Christ. John the Baptist was to prepare the people for the Messiah who was coming very soon. So as soon as they heard John affirm Jesus as the Messiah, the two disciples instantly and eagerly left John to follow Christ. They did what was right—what John would want this for his disciples.
So then what happens in verses 38 to 39, “And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?’ 39 He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’ So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.”
It is about 4 in the afternoon–that’s the 10th hour. They followed Christ to where He was staying–a rental house or a rustic inn, and spent the rest of the day with Jesus. I wish I could have been there that day with them, don’t you? At some point during that day, their eyes were opened and they knew Christ truly was the Messiah. Andrew and John become convinced they found the One promised in the Old Testament, now living among them. John 1:40 says, “One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.”
So what does Andrew do first? The first thing manly Andrew does is to tell his brother Peter—he told the one person he loved the most. Andrew wanted Peter to know Christ too. So Andrew literally led Peter to Christ. John 1:41, “He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ).” When Christ is your first love, you can’t help but share this love to all those you love.
Even though Peter would shine, Andrew still served. From this point on, Andrew is in the background–Andrew lived his entire life in the shadow of Peter and accepted that role fully. And it was this very thing that made Andrew so useful. His willingness to be a supporting actor often gave him insights the other twelve missed. What did Andrew see?
#4 Community of Potential–teamwork with Christ in the gospels
Andrew was part of the team–he played hard, but was not the one you watched on the field from the stands. Andrew saw himself as the sweeper, not the curler–the trainer, not the jockey. Yet his contentment in His God-designed support role is exactly what gave him insight into situations others missed. What did Andrew see? What should we see? Turn to John 12:20.
First See the potential of Christ to transform people
Andrew was the one who saw the value of a single soul. Almost every time we see Andrew in the gospels, he is bringing someone to Christ. His first act after meeting Christ was to go get Peter and introduce Peter to Jesus. That became the tone of Andrew’s ministry–that was his style. Bring them to Jesus.
In John 12, some Greeks (possibly Gentiles or Hellenistic Jews) sought out Philip so that they might somehow see Jesus. Philip didn’t know what to do, so Philip brought them to Andrew–but Andrew just brought them before Christ. John 12:20 to 22, “Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ 22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.”
We will find out fully next time why Philip didn’t bring them directly to Christ–but one contributing motive was Philip was not confident in the Gospel to change lives. He doubted Christ would want to give any time to these Greeks. But not Andrew–Andrew is convinced the Gospel will change lives. Andrew believed Christ would want to meet these men, and Andrew was confident Christ could transform these men.
Students, you know friends at school. Christians, you know neighbors. Men, you know guys at work. And all of you have family who are hard and closed off to the Gospel for now–have you given up? Are you convinced of the power of the Gospel to change those lives? Not in your ability, or your confidence in sharing, or your skill, but the power of the Gospel to save a hardhearted acquaintance. Are you ashamed of the Gospel, or convinced of the Gospel’s power? Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
In John 1, Andrew brought Peter to Christ, making Andrew the first home missionary, and now in John 12, Andrew brings Greeks to Christ, making Andrew the first foreign missionary. This is long before Peter preached to the Jews at Pentecost to birth the Church, and long before Peter preached to Cornelius in Acts 10 to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. It was Andrew–the first disciple, in a real sense, who first brought both a Jew and a Gentile-type to Christ to be saved.
Andrew saw potential in Christ to transform any person–do you? The greatest hindrance to the Gospel today is the lack of confidence Christians have in the Gospel to transform any person. If you struggle with this, let me help you. Remember how Christ transformed you. Recall what you were before you were saved–dredge up how lost you were, celebrate how gracious God was. Then get around the lost at Starbucks or at work, and look at each person in light of an eternity in Hell. Imagine lost family and friends in hell forever. God can save anyone–His Gospel is the power to transform lives.
Then own the reality that they can’t be saved just by looking at your life, or experiencing your good deeds–they must be told the truth, words, that they are sinners, condemned by God and on their way to Hell for their rebellion. Only Christ can rescue them by dying on the cross for their sins and rising from the dead. They need to pray for God to open their hearts and respond with repentance and faith in Christ alone. You have to tell them, or they can’t be saved. Telling them about church won’t save them–only the Gospel will, the good news.
Listen, over 90% of people who turn to Christ for salvation did so through the influence of an individual witness of a Christian. Even those who respond to a sermon or a tract almost always have been impacted by an individual Christian first. Both Andrew and Peter had evangelistic hearts, but their methods were dramatically different.
There are many ways to share the Gospel. Peter preached, but Andrew invited. The Bible never indicates that Andrew ever preached a sermon or stirred the masses toward Christ, but Andrew brought Peter to Christ, leading to the conversion of the man who was used to birth the Church in Acts 2. All the fruit of Peter’s ministry is ultimately also the fruit of Andrew’s faithful individual witness.
Do you see the potential of the Gospel to transform people–even your scary neighbor, a mean boss, that hateful student, or your Aunt Joanne with the big wart on her nose? If you are confident in the Gospel to transform people, you will share the Gospel—you will. Like Andrew, you’ll also . . .
Second See the potential for little things to please God
Little things can accomplish big fruit. Turn to John 6. Andrew lived faithful in little, so he was faithful in much. At the feeding of the 5,000, Andrew was the one who saw the potential of a little boy’s lunch. One year before the cross, Jesus goes to a mountain to get away alone with His twelve, but the crowd tracks him down. When it was mealtime, Christ desired to feed the crowd, so in John 6:5 to 6, “Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?’ 6 This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.”
Philip does a quick accounting and figured they’d need 200 denarii to feed everyone in John 6:7–that is 200 days’ wages–big bucks, so Philip had no answer. Matthew’s gospel, in chapter 14, tells us the rest of the disciples were at a loss at what to do. Their answer was to send the crowd away to the local villages to buy bread in verse 15. Then in Matthew 14:16 Jesus said they don’t need to go away, you give them something to eat.
This must have stunned the men—“How’re we gonna do this? This is impossible Jesus, unreasonable. It just can’t be done, Lord.” And it’s at this crucial moment that our Andrew speaks up. John 6:8 to 9, “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish [Great, awesome!] but what are these for so many people?’” Ooo, bummer!
There’s a laddy here with two dried fish and five loaves of bread. Of course Andrew knew that wouldn’t feed five thousand, but in his typical fashion, he brought the boy to Christ anyway. Jesus commanded the disciples to feed the people, and Andrew knew Christ would not give such a command without making it possible for them to obey it. So Andrew did the best he could. He identified the one single food source available, and made sure Jesus knew about it.
Something in Andrew seemed to understand that no gift is insignificant in the hands of Jesus. Do you believe that? So what if it’s small—so what if you’re never seen, or are giving 15% every week, but that’s only twenty dollars for you. God will use you, use that gift, that little thing faithfully given for His glory when offered in faith to Christ.
What happened? John 6:10 to 13 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down . . . 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. 12 When they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.’ 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.”
Little gifts make a difference–like the widow’s mite, it is not the greatness of the gift that matters, but the greatness of the God to whom it is given. Jesus didn’t need to have a boy’s lunch to feed the crowd. He could have created the food from nothing, and in a real way He did. But the way He fed the crowd demonstrates the way God works. The Lord takes the sacrificial and often insignificant gifts of people and multiplies them to accomplish monumental things–faithfully teaching children, cleaning up, setting up, taking down, driving the trailer, stuffing bulletins, decorating, powerpoint, selling books, hosting a table, greeting, ushering, printing, giving, loving strangers, witnessing and more.
Some people won’t be on a jury, unless they are the foreman. Andrew was one of those rare people willing to take the backseat. Andrew would choose to sit on the hump in the backseat and consider it a privilege to free up the better seats for others. Andrew was good with being in the background–the support. In the body of Christ, Andrew was the liver–you never see the liver, never feel the liver, you’re never aware of the liver, but it is so important. You can’t live without the liver. Real men can be Andrews, and all real men are servants who know the value of little things done for God’s glory.
#5 Cultivation of greater Potential–service to Christ
As far as we know, Andrew never preached to crowds or founded churches. He never wrote an epistle or a gospel in the New Testament. Andrew is not mentioned in the book of Acts after chapter 1, nor is he mentioned in any New Testament epistle—not one. Andrew is more of a silhouette than a portrait on the pages of Scripture. Whatever role he played in the Early Church, he remained behind the scenes.
Tradition tells us he took the gospel north, and Eusebius, the ancient Church historian says Andrew went as far north as Scythia, which is modern day Russia, which is why Andrew is the patron saint of Russia. He is also, strangely enough, the patron saint of Scotland, which may have meant he traveled quite a distance as an apostle.
Andrew ultimately was crucified in Achaia, which is in southern Greece, near Athens. One account said he led the wife of a provincial Roman governor to Christ, and that conversion infuriated her husband. The governor demanded his wife recant her devotion to Christ, and she refused. So the governor arrested Andrew and had him crucified. By his orders, they lashed him to a cross in order to prolong his suffering. The cross was a saltre, which is an X-shaped cross–and history tells us he hung on it for two days with no food or water, but he continued to engage passersby in dialog, sharing the Gospel with each one who would listen. After a lifetime of service to Christ, he met a similar fate as Peter his brother and Jesus his Lord. Yet Andrew still endeavored to bring people to Jesus, right up to his last dying breath.
Did Andrew feel slighted to be behind the scenes? No, he felt privileged. Andrew was first to hear Jesus proclaimed as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for mankind’s sins. Andrew was the first disciple to follow Christ. Andrew was in the inner circle of the closest friends of Christ. Best of all, he invested his entire life doing what he loved to do, introducing individuals to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank God for the Andrews–the quiet, strong, faithful, committed, giving, serving, helping, supporting, witnessing and bringing-people-to-Christ real men. Andrew didn’t receive much praise in this life, but he did hear the greatest praise of all, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Are you an Andrew?
1–Andrews are active
If you say, “That’s me, I am an Andrew,” but you continue to sit, soak and sour, and not join in–then you’re not an Andrew, you’re an Android, a fake. Andrews are not mere hearers, they are doers. They see opportunities to honor Christ and act on them. I thank God for the Andrews here–won’t you join their ranks?
2–Andrews are obedient
To become His man, Christ’s man, not your own man, her man, a company man, a party man, a church man, a fighting man, but His man. You are to be obedient, run to win, turn from sin, follow Christ–you don’t make excuses, you dependently obey, you act in faith, you engage your will to live God’s Word.
3–Andrews see potential
Andrews are not critical, don’t undermine authority, they are not doubting or pessimistic, or negative. Real men see potential in trial, they see opportunities in roadblocks, they don’t let anything stop them from serving Christ or bringing others to Christ. Andrews are believing, they have a high view of God and trust Him to do great things with little steps, little gifts, willing people. They see how God can take the weak and make it strong, how God can take the small and make it great.
4–Andrews bring people to Christ
These types of men are not preachers, they are not street corner evangelists, but Andrews can’t wait to introduce people to Christ. Anyone with a desire or interest is brought by the hand to a clear understanding of the Gospel.
5–Andrews believe Christ is the only answer
Need a lot of food? An Andrew will bring a lunch to Jesus. Peter needs a Savior–he’s brought to Jesus. Greeks want salvation, they’re brought to Jesus. Do you see a pattern here? Real men, even big strong secure men, bring everything to Christ. Will you? Let’s pray.
