Stewart challenges Union students to reach their potential

Tennessee Baptist Convention President Ron Stewart speaks during chapel Feb. 7. (Photo by Morris Abernathy)

JACKSON, Tenn. – Feb. 7, 2007– Too many Christians are sinning by not living up to their potential, Tennessee Baptist Convention President Ron Stewart told Union University students Feb. 7.

“Failing to reach your potential in life is not a tragedy,” Stewart said. “It’s a sin.”

Stewart, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., addressed the Union community in a chapel service and said Samson is the greatest biblical example of someone not fulfilling their potential.

“He had it all,” Stewart said. “He had everything going for him. Everybody looked up to him.”

And yet, Stewart said, despite all of the advantages in life Samson enjoyed, his life ended needlessly and in failure because he didn’t accomplish everything he could have.

Stewart told the Union students they all had the potential for evil or the potential to be something for God. He challenged them to stop making excuses for failure and to look in the mirror.

“You could graduate, you could get a job, you could make money without the anointing of God,” Stewart said. “You could get out, find a wife or a husband, have a family and have a good life. But you will not reach the potential God has placed in your life without the anointing of God upon your life.”