Over the past few days, the ruckus in the media about Phil Robertson has really gotten me thinking. I have listened to interviews on a variety of networks, from conservative to liberal, and read tons of articles and blogs about the situation. Facebook and Twitter are both literally blowing up about it. I even saw a statement that said Cracker Barrel was pulling some of its merchandise with Phil on it.
It’s kind of gotten crazy, hasn’t it?
As I watched the interviews and listened to the viewpoints of people who disagree with Phil’s statement, and then to other news stories from around the world; news from gay marriage laws being debunked, to murderous attacks on Christians, including children, school shootings, etc. It seems that blatant sin and a general evil that you see around the world is taking over. It seems that man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2 is alive and well. I found myself experiencing a variety of emotions and I began to wonder what was wrong with me. Why was all of this news affecting me in such a powerful way. Anger, frustration, sadness? After a while I had figured it out. So I’d like to tell you.
I am heartbroken.
It was easy to get mad at the representative from GLAAD that spoke out against Phil on CBS. I felt he misconstrued many things from the interview with the Duck Dynasty patriarch. It is easy to get angry when someone is advocating the very thing you disagree with. I found myself fighting feelings of anger at the Islamist groups that murder innocent people. I still don’t understand why someone would walk into a school and shoot up a bunch of kids. Perhaps it is a valid feeling, but when I really started to think about it, that wasn’t it at all. While I am not comparing homosexuality with murder or terrorism like Phil was accused of, it all leads me to two things: they are all sin, and they all leave me heartbroken.
I thought about these different people and their stances, their thoughts on life, their perceptions of reality, their beliefs, their ideologies, and wondered how they could be so different from mine. How can people justify the sin, the evil, in their lives?
And then, out of the blue, it hit me: it is because I have a worldview shaped by faith in Jesus Christ. It may not sound too revelatory to you, but for me, in that moment, it opened my eyes to some things. I have a worldview based on faith in Jesus Christ, and I have that worldview as a result of people sharing the love of Jesus Christ with me, showing me who Jesus was, leading me to him, and then, when I placed my faith in him, developing my current worldview after engaging in a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. My faith in Jesus shapes everything I see, do, perceive, believe, say, everything, in the best way I know how. I fall, I fail, but ask for forgiveness, and keep moving forward. It truly is an amazing life!
But when I read stories of tragedies across the world, and I hear people giving interviews on TV that seem so completely far away from the truth of the Word of God, I have to stop and realize a few things. I can’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians. I can’t expect that everyone has a genuine, covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. And lastly, and maybe more importantly, I can’t expect them to discover the love of Jesus Christ without somebody telling them, without someone showing them his love, without someone doing what was done for me by showing who Jesus really is. Is it possible that they can find Jesus without someone pointing the way? Sure. But based on my reading of Matthew 28, that’s not really how God intended it.
So it makes me wonder, why aren’t more Christians actively engaging in evangelism, telling people this good news about Jesus Christ? Phil said it right there in his interview, “We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”
What makes people keep this message, the greatest news anyone could hear, to themselves? I am sure there are a lot of reasons, but three really stick out: fear, time, and typecasting.
1. Most people don’t share the gospel with others because they are afraid, either afraid to speak to someone, afraid they won’t be able to answer hard questions, or afraid they will be flat out rejected.
1John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” It is pretty clear that love is the thing that defeats fear. And it’s not just a meager victory. The word says it casts it out. Love removes fear from the equation. We have to allow love for the lost to overcome our fear of telling them about Jesus, fear of failure, fear of being rejected, fear of not knowing what to say, even fear of simply approaching someone with the Gospel. And here’s why:
There is no greater act of love that you could show to another human being than to tell them about Jesus Christ.
You can’t write a check a big enough, you can’t volunteer enough time, and they don’t make a big enough diamond down at Jared to show love like sharing the Gospel. We not only have to develop a genuine love for the lost, we need to understand what that love really is. John 15:13 tells us, “No greater love has a man than this, that he would lay his life down for his friend.” I’m not necessarily asking you to lay down your life to share the Gospel with someone, though so many have, but I am asking you to lay down your pride, lay down your fear, lay down your worry, lay down anything that would keep you from sharing the love of Jesus Christ with someone. Their eternities quite literally depend on it.
Over the last few days and weeks, my heart has really begun to break for these people, even more so than before. I couldn’t help feel compassion for the rep from GLAAD, or the people on Facebook ranting about the “myth of Christianity.” They are blind, wandering around like a sheep with no shepherd. And just like Jesus did, rather than being angry and upset, I had compassion. And from that compassion, a genuine love for them emerged, love that refuses to be silent. They need to hear the message, and it is up to me, up to us, to tell them. It really all boils down to this one question: how much do you really love them?
2. Many people don’t take the time to share Jesus with someone because they don’t have time to share him.
I’ve read before that back in the 60s, there were predictions that Americans would become so efficient, that our work week would be essentially cut in half. We would be able to do an entire week’s worth of work in a half of a week. What’s funny, is that at least a part of that prophecy is true. We can do, in a fraction of the time, what took a long time in the 60s. The problem is that we just filled that extra time up with more stuff. Way more.
Work, sports, entertainment, hobbies, recreation, our kid’s sports and events, fill in the blank. We’ve become so busy that we’ve begun to complain that there isn’t enough time for anything. People are going crazy over their busy schedules. And the worst thing is that people are going to hell because of busy schedules.
Telling someone about Jesus is rarely going to fit perfectly into your little schedule. I have been in ministry for almost 15 years and I can tell you, ministering to people is rarely convenient. There are late meetings, long meetings, problems to deal with, meetings to plan, counseling sessions, the list goes on.
But as much as I really would like to stop in to Kroger, by the couple of things I need for dinner that night, and hurry to the house, I have to learn that my timeline is not governed not by activities, but by my Master, Jesus Christ. Perhaps the lady next to me reaching for the same can of peas as I am needs to hear the Gospel. Maybe she needs an encouraging word. Maybe she just needs someone to smile at her.
Truth is, you can never tell what is going on in someone’s life by just looking at them. We’ve become masters at hiding what’s really going on. But we, as Christians, as believers, as evangelists of God’s Good News, have to become masters of listening to God’s voice, and speaking up when he urges us to.
I am by no means advocating that you neglect your responsibilities, especially your family, but what I am saying is that you and I both, all of us, need to be a little bit more aware of what is going on, spiritually, around us. Telling the person next to you about Jesus while standing in the line may mean you’re five minutes later home, but what if that five minutes saved them an eternity? I guarantee you it would be worth it then.
3. If you tell someone about Jesus, then you are going to have to live up to that standard. You will be typecast as “the Christian.”
For a lot of people, sharing the gospel means doing so with people you see every day, whether that is the office, school. the gym, the grocery store, etc. and while it sounds crazy to think being typecast as the Christian would be a bad thing, which I don’t think it would be, it can be difficult. For many people, it would seemingly mean they could never have a bad day, never get upset, never get frustrated, never look like they don’t have it altogether. If it came out they were a Christian, then the only option they would have is to be perfect.
Well, first off, no one can live up to that standard, save Jesus. The beauty of a relationship with Jesus Christ is that we are in a process of becoming more holy. This big word called sanctification, and it means simply that we are on our way to becoming more like him. We aren’t there yet, and we aren’t perfect vessels just yet, but with every single day, every trial, every situation, we have the opportunity to become more like Jesus.
I realize it is tough in the world we live in today, where the term Christian has different connotations than it did during the first century. So, perhaps for the sake of clarification, let me just say I’m not talking about a Christian who just calls himself by that name, but lives however he wants to, because, to be honest, that really isn’t a Christian. You cannot be a true Christian without being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am talking about a person who has entered into a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, who is a true disciple of Jesus and his teachings, and who lives out that relationship in his/her life.
So, in light of the clarification of what a Christian really is, we’ve got to be okay with being typecast. Not only will it give you some accountability, which is worth it’s weight in gold, it fulfills scripture. 1Peter 2:12 says, “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.” It’s pretty powerful isn’t it – that your behavior in front of nonbelievers could be the very thing that leads them to Christ?
We’ve got to learn to love lost. We’ve got to be willing to give up some time to share the Gospel with them. And we’ve got to be willing to live the life that has called us to live. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave us that Great Commission, “Go into all the world making disciples.” How have you been doing?
Over the past few days and weeks, I figured out my problem. I have a love for lost people. But that is okay, because Jesus does too. So if the Gospel, real love, a little time, and some typecasting is all it takes to keep someone from an eternity in hell, I am certain it is worth it.
Matthew 9:35-38 (NLT) “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Are you heartbroken over the evil in the world? I believe it breaks God’s heart too. But there is good news! He has a cure for the evil in the world. He simply needs us to share it.
Be blessed.
J