In an address delivered on May 28, 1893, to the Y.M.C.A. of the University of Missouri, J.W. McGarvey (a tremendous Bible scholar, author and preacher of the 19th century), related the following story about “Gen. A.W. Doniphan, a conspicuous officer in the Mexican War, an eminent lawyer, and for many years the leader of the Whig party in [Missouri].
“Until he was about sixty years of age [Doniphan] was indifferent to all creeds, and he had never become a believer in Jesus Christ; but while in attendance on the circuit court away from home, he dropped into a church on the Lord’s day to hear a sermon. As he stated afterward, in telling the story, there was nothing in the sermon to especially interest him, but he found his attention drawn to the manifest earnestness of the speaker, an earnestness and an air of sincerity which proved him to be a profound believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“As he reflected on this, the question came into his mind, if this plain man, with moderate intellectual powers, has found evidence to so thoroughly convince him of the claims of Jesus, may not the same evidence be within my reach also, and may I not be guilty of a serious neglect in not paying attention to it? The thought took possession of him, and he resolved, that on returning home he would take the New Testament in hand and examine it carefully, to see if it sets forth a case in favor of Jesus of Nazareth, which he as a lawyer, desiring to keep up his reputation as such, would undertake to defend in a court of justice.
“He did so; and he said that before he had gone through the Gospel of Matthew he was forced to exclaim, ‘The case is a good one.’ Within a few weeks afterward he was baptized, and the remnant of his life was devoted to the service of God.”
Think about this account for a moment. Initially, it was not the message (or content of the message) that caught this man’s attention. It would be later, when he took the New Testament in hand and examined the evidence for himself (and the evidence is what ultimately convicted him), but the message of Jesus was not the initial draw. What caught his attention was “the manifest earnestness” and “air of sincerity” in the preacher that “proved him to be a profound believer.”
Do you have a “manifest earnestness” and “air of sincerity” regarding your faith? When others look at you, is it obvious to them that you are a “profound believer in the Lord Jesus Christ”? Before the message of Jesus touches a person’s heart, many need to see that message genuinely reflected in the lives of Christians around them. What do they see in you?