I was watching the news story about the Dallas nurse who is now the first person to ever contract Ebola in America. And I was hit by a lesson that is intensely personal to me.
The authorities were talking about the "contact tracing" they're doing to identify people she'd been with. They also did that with Thomas Duncan, the first person to die of Ebola here. In Africa, and now in America, contact tracing is a top priority in containing the spread of this medical serial killer.
The medical detectives want to know who the infected person has been close to. The list can be pretty long.
And that's what got me thinking.
About my contact list. I bet I'd be surprised if someone actually made a list of all the people I'm in touch with during a given week. At the office. At the store. The restaurant. Neighbors. Family. Friends - including Facebook. I think we'd all be amazed if we saw an actual list of the people we influence in some way every week.
Which is a wake-up call for me as a follower of Jesus Christ. Because God says I - and all my fellow-believers - am an "ambassador for Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20). The face, the voice, the hands of Jesus to all the folks on my "contact list." For better or for worse.
The Bible has a lot to say about the influence of us Jesus-followers. We're "the light of the world." People are supposed to "see your good deeds and (as a result) praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14, 16).
We're also the "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13), making people thirsty for our Jesus because of what they see in us. Oh, and we are to be "pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." Also, we're to "do everything without complaining and arguing" (Philippians 2:14-15), because those two practices will quickly blot out the light.
And Peter said it is "the hope you have" (I Peter 3:15) that will make people spiritually curious. That's hope, as in being living proof that things can change that we could never change. Because of Jesus.
And then there's the characteristic that Jesus said would be the ultimate mark of someone who belongs to Him. "All men will know you are My disciples...if you love one another" (John 13:35).
So...what if someone did some spiritual "contact tracing" on the people I've been around in the past week? What did I "infect" them with?
Did they feel hope when I was with them? Did they feel cared about - or was I pretty much about me? Was I giving off light and joy - or grumpiness, complaining, stress?
Ultimately, though, for those I influence to be cured of their terminal spiritual disease called sin, they'll need more than me being a nice guy. They could watch me for the next fifty years, and they're not going to guess that Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sins.
No, I'll have to tell them that. A life that radiates Jesus can attract someone to Him. It can be the living proof that Jesus changes a life.
But it can't explain "the Gospel" that is "the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16). That takes words. And it takes the God-given courage to tell my story, then His story. Of a love so great He died for me. And a power so great He walked out of His grave and crushed death.
I've been strangely challenged by a sobering reality the Ebola crisis has highlighted - the reach of just one life. To infect an entire circle of people with death. Or with life.
The people in my path are not some random accident. God put them there. So they could see and know His Son.
Are they closer to Jesus because they've been close to me?