Jul 11 2008
Boats and Helicopters
Jesus Christ, just prior to His ascension into Heaven, gave the directive that the Gospel message was to be carried into the world in what has become known as the, “Great Commission.” His charge to go and make disciples of all the world is found in the last chapters of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Some would argue that only those who have received the gift of evangelism are to do this while others maintain that the command was intended for the Apostles and not the run-of-the-mill disciple. Like it or not, we are all carriers of the commission by our thoughts, words and actions.
When we laugh at an off-color joke, we admit that we think such things are funny. When we speak with coarse language, it says that we accept such words as harmless. When we pass by the mother in the grocery store who is straining for the top shelf while wrangling two toddlers, our actions betray us. In all these, and countless ways more, our witness for the cause of Christ suffers. The world loves to see a professing Christian fail in their witness because it allows them to feel as though they are justified in their own sin. While this could not be farther from the truth; in their eyes, our fall is the same as their rise, and it is our failings that are used to build the rungs of their ladders.
“But I can’t walk the streets preaching, my faith is too private. It isn’t me.” I don’t mean that we should all wear sandwich boards proclaiming that the end is near, and that everyone must repent or perish. These things may be true, but I would not accuse anyone of such a failing as this. But we do need to attempt to live, each day, a life that conveys the message of the grace of God through us in Jesus Christ. We must be always aware so that we do not give occasion for those in the world to condemn our faith. The living out of the grace within us is the primary witness that is set before a world steeped in moral relativity and theological skepticism.
Should we be out convicting others because of the mites in their eyes while we ignore the planks in our own? Of course not, the world already has ample cause to label us hypocrites. Even so, we are charged in, 1 Peter 3:15, to always be ready to give an answer to any who ask, the reason for the hope we have. Even though we may not feel comfortable walking around with the name of Jesus always first on our lips for all we encounter, we need to be ready with the answer for anyone who might ask. We need not throw our pearls to the swine, but neither can we be unprepared to share the good news when called upon to do so.
I sometimes take the message of my Christian faith to websites that allow you to post discussions on all manner of topics, (fishing for men). I came upon a post that was from a very excited individual who was offering to perform marriages, baptisms and christenings. They had just been ordained in the church of Spiritual Humanism. I found this to be quite amazing and rather than begining a rant on how such a church was, even in it’s name, an affront to Biblical Christianity, I asked the poster to explain the tenets of the church. I received a reply saying that I should, “Google it.” I explained that I was only curious in what the newly ordained minister held as doctrine and not what Google had to say about it. I then received a very short reply saying the this person’s faith was too personal to allow them to proselytize. I could not imagine such a refusal, from a supposed minister, in the face of a sincere request to know more about their faith.
I do not care for the person who attempts to thrust their faith upon me, uninvited but when I ask for an understanding, I am hopeful that a person would be willing to share their convictions. This is a minimal requirement of the Christian walk and one that we don’t even really have to work on all that hard. I have yet to meet a new believer, a real believer, that is not so excited about the saving grace that has washed them clean that they could keep from sharing at the least provocation! When we realize what Jesus has done for us, how He changed the courses of our lives and set us, as new creations, on the path of righteousness, how can we keep it in?
We do not need to read all the college course texts on Apologetics or spend thousands of hours formulating our witnesses to be able to be effective for the kingdom of God. There has been a change that, through our daily existence, should speak volumes to those around us when we give your lives back to their creator. If we are asked, we simply need to tell of the person we used to be, and what our life has become now, by living in the shadow of the cross. We must let the, “before and after,” of our lives testify to the grace of God by the redemption through Jesus Christ. The, “why,” may take a little thought in order to be able to put into the words the indescribable freedom that has lifted us from our sin.
We are the only Bibles that most people will ever read when it comes to understanding the plan of God’s salvation through the grace offered in the substitutionary death of Christ. The church is called to be set apart from the world so that when the world looks at us, they will want that elusive, “something,” that we have. If we are the only testimony that people ever see, let’s make sure to make the testimony a good one. When God calls us to help, speak, go, act, in whatever measure; we have to be ready to receive the instruction and respond in obedience.
Have you heard the one about the man who was trapped in his house, on a hill as the flood waters rose? A boat came by and calling to the man said, “Hurry, we can get you out of here.” “No thanks,” said the man, “the Lord will save me.” As the water got deeper, the house began to fill and the man was seen by those in another boat, now in a second story window. “Come with us and we can take you to safety,” they called to the man. “No, it’s alright. The Lord will save me,” was the response. As the house was nearly submerged, a helicopter spotted the man on his roof and lowering a ladder, they urged the man to climb up. The man once again refused help saying only, “The Lord will save me.” The water kept rising and the man drowned. In Heaven, the man asked the Lord, “Why didn’t you rescue me?” The Lord replied, “What did you want? I sent two boats and a helicopter!”
That should be us; boats and helicopters. We may never be able to force a person to accept the gift of salvation offered freely in the person of Jesus Christ, but we can most assuredly be the vessels that offer the truth of the Word of God to a starving world, a world that is dying in the darkness of sin, a world that will occasionally ask us to share our faith. Living a life to the glory of the one who died for us is the very least that we should be willing to do. When asked, be sure to proclaim the reason for the hope that you have been given in Jesus.
All for the Glory of Christ