An evangelist was once asked what the secret to revival is. He said that we should draw a circle around ourselves and then pray for God to revive everything inside that circle.
It has to start with us.
I had a brief conversation recently with a person who seems fed up with Christians and the church because of the awful misbehavior of some leaders. While we probably won’t ever meet all of those leaders or have a chance to influence them, we can let God and God’s Word impact us before we expect it to impact anyone else through us.
Leviticus 9:8 says, “Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.”
It started with the spiritual leaders making sure their lives were right.
I don’t think anyone expects Christians to be perfect, but people have a right to expect us to live it even more than we speak it. Otherwise, why would they bother listening to us?