Confession: if you even recognize the song title that I borrowed for this post as the biggest hit of the Five Man Electrical Band, then I admit to you... I really don't care for this song, but the title fit - so I borrowed it. I beg your forgiveness.
I admitted to Jason some time back now that I am a rule-lover. I love rules! You can be the rudest person in the world and I'll get over it; but if you park in a handicapped spot and aren't even remotely handicapped... my teeth grind with steaming anger. Oh, and you can be the biggest jerk in Wal-Mart for all that I care, but if you park your car in the No Parking - Fire Lane just to run in quickly because you can't be bothered to find a space... I seethe with the fires of a thousand burning suns.
Let's take the example to our left here, the friendly walk/don't walk sign found on thousands upon thousands of street corners the world over. Do you obey it? Be honest with me, do you really? You may say, "Yeah, I follow it most of the time. I mean, jay-walking? Nobody tickets for that anymore!" Sure, I get that, but let's look at another example.
I admitted to Jason some time back now that I am a rule-lover. I love rules! You can be the rudest person in the world and I'll get over it; but if you park in a handicapped spot and aren't even remotely handicapped... my teeth grind with steaming anger. Oh, and you can be the biggest jerk in Wal-Mart for all that I care, but if you park your car in the No Parking - Fire Lane just to run in quickly because you can't be bothered to find a space... I seethe with the fires of a thousand burning suns.
Let's take the example to our left here, the friendly walk/don't walk sign found on thousands upon thousands of street corners the world over. Do you obey it? Be honest with me, do you really? You may say, "Yeah, I follow it most of the time. I mean, jay-walking? Nobody tickets for that anymore!" Sure, I get that, but let's look at another example.
What about this one? Do you follow this one? The consequences are a little steeper with this one, no? Still, we've got the police in sheer numbers, right? "Yeah, I stay close. I mean, everybody goes at least five over, right?" There's no way that the highway patrol can hold everyone accountable at all times, right? Again, that's a choice that we make nearly every day of our lives. While a jay-walking ticket will bring a cost of, what, twenty-five dollars, maybe? The cost for reckless endangerment via speeding can run in excess of three hundred dollars in some areas. Let's look at one more, shall we?
And then how about this one? Suddenly, most all of us will sit up and take notice. Most all of us will heed this warning and give plenty of caution. Why is that? My guess is because our lives are at stake. While walking across an empty street against a "don't walk" sign is safe from everything but invisible cars and doing forty-five in a thirty on a country road is almost laughably manageable - falling from a cliff is not a situation that many walk away from in any shape. We grant so much more weight to this sign because it puts fear in our hearts; the fear of losing our lives. I guess then, I have to ask this...
18And Jesus came and said to them,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them inb the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them inb the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
Why are we ignoring this sign? I have a thought on the answer to this question and if you don't want to be convicted by what I'm about to say, go back to YouTube now, because it's going to be rough.
We don't follow this sign, because it's not our lives that swing in the balance. If we never reach a single soul, but know Jesus as our Savior, we're still good. We don't care about this sign because we're less concerned about the souls of those who don't know Christ... than our own. It is estimated that sixty million people will die this year, worldwide. Of those, two thirds will die without knowing Christ as their personal savior. Broken down, that's a little over one hundred thousand people each day that die without knowing Christ. Wait, how many? One hundred thousand people every single day will die and spend an eternity in Hell. That sounds scary to us, we don't want to go to Hell... but be honest, of the roughly four thousand, nine-hundred people who will die in the United States tomorrow not knowing Christ, how many of them passed through your lives and you allowed them to walk out of your life without breathing a word about an amazing God to them?
Confession: I do the same thing. I am guilty. And my heart... breaks because of it. I want that passion for people. I yearn for those souls to find Jesus. I beg God to put their souls into my vision daily so that I will have the vision to introduce the idea of a loving Savior, who offers so much, who gave His life for everyone, to those people - my co-workers, the lady in the drive-thru, the gas station attendant - everyone.
My prayer is that we all find that fire again. Sure, we have enough problems within the body of Christ to keep us busy until the rapture, but Jesus doesn't care about those things. He never commanded His disciples to fix church matters, have better programs, include more outreach events, or have more bake sales... He gave us one pro-active command.
We don't follow this sign, because it's not our lives that swing in the balance. If we never reach a single soul, but know Jesus as our Savior, we're still good. We don't care about this sign because we're less concerned about the souls of those who don't know Christ... than our own. It is estimated that sixty million people will die this year, worldwide. Of those, two thirds will die without knowing Christ as their personal savior. Broken down, that's a little over one hundred thousand people each day that die without knowing Christ. Wait, how many? One hundred thousand people every single day will die and spend an eternity in Hell. That sounds scary to us, we don't want to go to Hell... but be honest, of the roughly four thousand, nine-hundred people who will die in the United States tomorrow not knowing Christ, how many of them passed through your lives and you allowed them to walk out of your life without breathing a word about an amazing God to them?
Confession: I do the same thing. I am guilty. And my heart... breaks because of it. I want that passion for people. I yearn for those souls to find Jesus. I beg God to put their souls into my vision daily so that I will have the vision to introduce the idea of a loving Savior, who offers so much, who gave His life for everyone, to those people - my co-workers, the lady in the drive-thru, the gas station attendant - everyone.
My prayer is that we all find that fire again. Sure, we have enough problems within the body of Christ to keep us busy until the rapture, but Jesus doesn't care about those things. He never commanded His disciples to fix church matters, have better programs, include more outreach events, or have more bake sales... He gave us one pro-active command.
19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them inb the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
baptizing them inb the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Let's make this a rule that all of us heed... every single day of our lives.
Much love to you all,
Beau
Beau is the pastoral assistant and CrossRoads ministry leader at CommUNITY Church.
Much love to you all,
Beau
Beau is the pastoral assistant and CrossRoads ministry leader at CommUNITY Church.
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