Storm said that to Wolverine in the first X-Men movie.
Jeff told an interesting story to the youth tonight and I thought I'd share it with you. Some may find it kind of cheesy, but that doesn't change the message.
Jesus and Satan are in a pasture walking the same direction on opposite sides of a fence. When they see a group congregated near the fence line, they walk up and engage them in a conversation.
Then comes the invitation. Jesus says, "If you come to my side of the fence, it will take a firm commitment. Things won't always be easy. In fact, sometimes, it might be near impossible. However, I promise that I will never leave and I promise that once everything is over with, you'll live forever in Heaven with me."
The group liked the idea of living forever, so many of them started to head over to Jesus' side of the fence, but then Satan spoke up. "Look, everyone. You come to my side of the fence and I won't require any kind of commitment from you. We'll have a good time. Live it up and party hard."
The group seemed split. Some went to Jesus' side of the fence. More went to Satan's.
One person couldn't seem to make a decision. On one hand, he loved the idea of living forever and he might really be buying into this Jesus guy, but on the other hand, it sure was enticing to party hard and go with Satan. For now, he decided that he would just sit on the fence. Dead center. No choice made.
Everyone left him there. Sitting on the fence wondering what would happen next.
Later, Satan came back. "Boy, it's time you came with me now."
"Umm, no. You see, I'm undecided. I'm sitting here right in the middle of the fence. I'm not on Jesus' side where I could live forever, but maybe have it kind of tough and I'm not on your side living it up."
Satan replied, "You don't seem to understand. You're mine now. I own the fence."
Call it cheesy if you want, but I still thought that the point was quite clear. You have to choose. Not choosing is a choice.
I wonder how many people sit in our pews walking on the fence? Doing the whole Jesus thing because everlasting life sure does sound enticing, but not fully buying into it. Still living for themselves.
Now, here's where I note that many of those who will come across my blog in one way or another have made their choice. They have chosen Jesus and they live like they have. There is no middle ground for them.
How many teenagers do I encounter each day who talk of going to church and being a Christian, but obviously don't try to live like they are? Sadly, most of them.
I was talking to a student just today who was mentioning how she would react violently if provoked. I asked her if that was the way Jesus would respond. Before she even thought to say yes or no, she said that today wasn't a "church day." And this was the instant where she caught herself and realized that yes, it is Wednesday, and yes, she did go to church on Wednesdays. However, she made a direct link between living right and talking about Jesus only when she was on her way to church.
It blows me away at the amount of people that I encounter who live like that. We'll be good and straight-laced on Sunday (and maybe Wednesday), but the rest of the week is for me.
These are the people who have chosen a side and don't even realize it. They claim to know Christ. Some can even tell you of a conversion experience that they had when they were in the 7th grade. Some can tell you about the day that they got baptized. But they don't really know Christ. There was never a conversion (implying that something has radically changed). And the baptism? Well, that was just a show, right?
Sadly, these are the people who believe that they have their bus ticket to an awesome afterlife, but, I believe, in the end, Jesus will look at them and say, "Depart from me, for I never knew you (Matthew 7:23)." These are the people who don't really understand how narrow the way and how small the gate is that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). They don't understand that their lives are probably headed down the road that leads to destruction.
So, I ask again, how many people sitting in pews this Sunday are on that road that leads to destruction? I fear that the number is greater than we think.
If they are in the very building built to minister to them, how, then can we get them to walk on Jesus' side of the fence?
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“The greatest sin in most churches is that we have made it ok to sit there week after week and do nothing and call yourself a follower of Jesus.” - Ed Stetzer (from Dave's blog)
ReplyDeletePeople today only want to come to God for two reasons. 1. for salvation, and 2. when their life is screwed up.
What happened to the whole "Every tree that does not bear fruit will be cast in the lake of fire", and "They will know you belong to Me by your love.", and "If you love Me, you will obey Me."?
Or all of Luke 14 and Mark 10 for that matter?
Remember the rich young ruler? The guy who had observed the commandments his whole life? He asked Jesus what else he must do, and do you know what Jesus said to him? "Sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Then come follow Me and you will have treasure in heaven." So, the rich young ruler did as Jesus said right? Wrong, he went away sad because he had great wealth.
Jesus calls us to give up EVERYTHING to follow Him. Not just our Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Every. Day. Of. The. Week. If Jesus is our Lord, we must obey His commands.
Maybe we need to be more forceful in teaching the Gospel at CHURCH. Preach on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. How we must deny ourselves and obey Christ.
Strong, convicting messages might piss some people off. Then again, it may call some people home. Either way, it's going to knock people off of the fence.
Not speaking from a great deal of experience, it's the American Church. We've made our churches into feel good places. We've made it too easy...and it was never intended to be easy. We were meant to have troubles. We were meant to face persecution. Instead, like the quote that Dave used, we teach that you can say a prayer, get dunked and then go to Heaven. No commitment required. That's a quick way to send a lot of people to Hell under the guise that they're going to Heaven.
ReplyDeleteI guess I am feeling a bit convicted myself. We spend a lot of time on these posts debating who we can help people follow Jesus in a more perfect way. I hear Jesus saying, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother 'Let me take that speck out of your own eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?" Matthew 7: 3-4
ReplyDeleteI may be off the fence a large part of the time, but there are plenty of times that I plant myself right back on the fence. I need to take care of that before I worry about what someone else is doing. I guess all I am doing is ranking myself better than others because I spend less time on the fence than others.
I am not saying we shouldn't discuss ways to help others serve God in a more personal and better way. I guess I just feel like the answer needs to always be, lets start with ourselves. If we aren't doing it correctly why should we get onto others for not doing it right. Then if we are truly living it, hopefully that will impact others to do the same.
Dave, I agree to a point...
ReplyDeleteHowever, concerning the Matthew 7 passage, we will NEVER not have at least something stuck in our eye. Whether it's a plank or a speck, we will have something. Because to have a "clean" eye would intimate that we are perfect. And I know that no one here is saying that.
Also, and maybe I'm picking nits, but you cannot be on God's side of the fence at one point and find youself on the fence at another. To say so would imply that you could lose your salvation. I know you're not saying that, I just wanted to point that out for the other readers.
I understand that you're saying that sometimes we step out on our own and try to live under our own power instead of under the umbrella that God has provided. We are all still sinful and need reminders of our sin from time to time.
And you're certainly right in saying that we need to look in the mirror FIRST. However, I don't believe that we are trying to say "Look at us. We have this all figured out." I think what we are trying to say is "This is what the Bible says. This is how God has designed this to work. Let's to it God's way, let's obey God."
And there inlies the problem with the American church. Faith in Jesus is not the finish line. IT'S THE STARTING LINE. IF you're not running the race, then you're not even in the race.
Gentlemen, let us run the race. And while running, we can gather others to run along with us.
ReplyDeleteI am not implying loss of salvation. My actions, however do show a sincere attempt to follow God some days and other days selfishly holding onto the world and my sinful nature. That is how I think you can still be riding the fence. So if I am a fence rider some times in my actions I need to address that problem before I say, "You full time fence riders need to change." My point was to address the point you brought up that we are sinful and we need to be reminded of our sins. I need that more and more.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree that we are not saying look at us, we have it all figured out and you need to look like us. That does make me think about 1 Corinthians 4. In verse 16 Paul says "So I ask you to follow my example and do as I do." Paul was so confident in his walk with God that he did tell people to follow his example. So our example needs to be that pure if we want to have that kind of impact.
Do you agree that when we are choosing to go back to our old selves and choosing to fall into our old sins or choose not to do as we are commanded, then we are choosing the fence again? Am I making sense?
"Gentlemen, let us run the race. And while running, we can gather others to run along with us." Amen to that!!!
In light of Patrick's illustration above, I don't view the fence as something that we can hop onto and off of multiple times.
ReplyDeleteWe all start off on Satan's side of the fence. Those who are called by God jump across and join His side and can never jump back because God's grace is sufficient.
Some may say, "I'm not choosing Satan, but I don't know about this Jesus person either." Well, what they don't realize is that they in fact are choosing Satan because there is no middle ground.
I'm probably just being hard-headed this morning so I leave you with this. When we choose ourselves over God, we are being disobedient. While our disobedience does not change our position towards God, it does however grieve the Holy Spirit. This is not good and we should repent.
You say "choosing the fence" and I say "choosing ourself". I'm confident we are saying the same thing and I'm just being difficult. :)
You are being difficult and you should repent of that! It is a good thing this is on another person's blog or I would have already blocked your comments. ;)
ReplyDeleteWe are saying the same thing differently.
"And there inlies the problem with the American church. Faith in Jesus is not the finish line. IT'S THE STARTING LINE. IF you're not running the race, then you're not even in the race."
ReplyDeleteLove that, Jeff.
If people stand still where they started, then they will never finish and "win the prize that God has called [them] Heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14)."
I just want to say that I'm glad to have you back Pat! Great post to boost your return with!
ReplyDeleteI love reading what you all say back and forth to each other. These relationships are such a gift!
Jessica
ReplyDeleteAgreed! They are a great gift!