“The Savior moved from divine doctrine
to dirty feet in a very short space of time. We would do well to remember this.”
Derick Bingham
Earlier this
past week, Jane and I were able to spend some time with my “son” and his
family. Though our time was limited, it’s so fulfilling to see his love for the
Lord, his wife and his two little girls. True, it wasn’t my biological son, it
was my son in the faith, Dustin Rider.
During that brief
window of time when God dropped Dustin and Erin, and their two precious little
girls into the Grace Church family, I was instrumental in Dustin’s salvation. I’d
regularly meet with Dustin and Erin for an evangelistic Bible study to work
through the basics of salvation and life in Christ. And though Dustin and Erin
were just baby Christians and struggling with a boatload of concerns, like
moving to a job that was better for their family, and the normal issues of
young Christians, they reached out to Nicole Poltrock.
Because of
their faithfulness and testimony, Nicole came to Grace Church and more
importantly, came to Christ. Erin was
instrumental in Nicole’s salvation. So not only am I a spiritual father, I may
be a grandfather…at least a spiritual uncle.
Now some of
you are thinking, “Well, of course you did that – that’s what we pay you
to do.” Wrong answer! If you’re a
believer, “that’s what you were saved to do.” And if you really know Jesus, and
if you’re growing in your faith and becoming a mature Christian, you’re nearly
OCD about serving and sharing your faith. It nearly drives you crazy to NOT
serve, to not show gratitude, to not share the greatest news that there has
ever been of how you can be forgiven, of how you can have the Spirit’s power in
your life to conquer sin, and know that this temporal, empty life is not all
there is – you are going to be with Jesus for all eternity!
The simple
truth is that there’s something seriously wrong with a Christian who does not
want to serve, share or give. If Jesus really saved you from your sins, if
you’ve accepted His free gift of salvation truly comprehending that He died for
you so that you wouldn’t have to face eternal judgment, then there is overwhelming
gratitude. Not only did Jesus save you from something, He gave you new life, His
power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If there’s new life, there’s a new
value system, a new behavior and a new worldview.
Can you
imagine a Muslim professing to having come to Christ, yet claiming that they
follow both Jesus and Muhhamad? If you know anything about Christianity, you’d
be dumbfounded and quickly point out to them that you can’t follow both. Jesus
is Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all. The biblical reality is that you either
have committed your life to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or you haven’t and
are an idolater, or you’re a spiritual adulterer. It’s as foolish as getting
married but still wanting to date. It doesn’t work.
Salvation is
revolutionary. It changes everything. When you come to Christ and realize how
much He loved you and gave for you, you want to give, share and serve Him. You
long to. You’re driven with a passion of unbelievable gratitude.
Anyone
studying their Bible, comparing much of what is called Christianity in America
to what is normal Christianity in the Bible, quickly realizes that in America
our churches are filled with people who know about Jesus but probably don’t
know Jesus. One of the greatest indicators of that is that most “Christians” worship
at the altar of consumerism.
This was recently
illustrated in our area when a mega-church planted a multi-site church. It was
a reasonable decision. They had a large percentage of people who attended their
church that were driving 30 to 45 minutes each week to attend. So they
logically assumed that those individuals would want to worship locally. More
importantly, they knew that these same church attendees would be much more
effective reaching their lost friends in their community if they had a local
church.
Think about
it. While a Christian might drive some distance to attend the “right church,” a
lost person isn’t going to. They might do it a time or two but for them, a
church is a church.
Here’s the
shocker! Though there was now a local church, though it was the same message (though
the preaching is via video feed), though the new site needed workers who could
minister in the new church plant, though it would help them more effectively
reach their lost friends and neighbors – a huge percentage still drive every
weekend over half an hour to the “mother church” to worship there. The original
obviously does it a little better, bigger and brighter than the new multi-site
church. I can’t help but wonder if a possible motive is that it’s easier to attend
with no responsibility to be involved. The greatest problem though is that they’re
not part of reaching their community and are disobeying the Great Commission,
just to satisfy their own consumer desires.
Some 80% of
our community do not attend church anywhere. What an opportunity we have.
That’s why our ministry fair is so important. First, it helps YOU get to know
others in this church better. Second, it gives you an opportunity to see where
you (and even your family) might plug in to serve Jesus – the one who loved you
and gave His life to rescue you.
It comes
back to this. If you truly know Jesus, you love Him and are overcome with
gratitude toward Him. That means that you don’t really even need to be asked to
serve, you’re looking for ways to serve. You don’t have to be asked to give,
you can’t help yourself. And when Jesus has revolutionized your life, unsaved
people are almost ready to pay you to shut-up because you can’t help but share
His love and forgiveness with them. When you realize how much Jesus has done
and given for you – you want to pour your life out in giving back to Him.
Do you
really know Jesus? Show me your calendar, show me your checkbook…tell me the
last time that you shared the Gospel with a lost person. If you really know
Jesus, when you’re in love with Jesus – no one ever really wonders. About five
minutes with you and they know that you’re in love with the Lord of life who
gave His life for you!