Assuming The Position Series

That is our role. That is our position. That is where we are supposed to be. We should be acting as a bridge between those who are alive in Christ and those who are dead in sin so that they can cross over to life. According to Ezekiel 22:30, God is searching “for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: BUT I FOUND NONE.” We are out of position. Touch 3 people and tell them “Get in position. God is looking for you.”

IV. Tendency

The problem or challenge is that we have the tendency to put all of our efforts into trying to huddle up with those who are alive and survive the plague. Moses’ instructions to Aaron were to run into the midst of the congregation. Get right in the middle of the mess. Get as close to those who are sick as possible so that you can do something about it. What we do is we continue to drive past the congregation to get to the building! I can prove that. Did you know that the average pastor can’t even name 7 unsaved friends? I am not sure I can. But before you point a condemning finger at me did you know that 99.5% of Christians will never personally win someone to Christ?

We are out of position. Our instructions are clear run to the dying not away from them. Why? Because if they die we all die. We cannot be unaffected! It affects our friends, our family, and our neighbors.

On that day 14,700 people died before someone stepped into position and did something about it. How many have died while we set in comfort huddled up with the living?

We have a tendency to think that all we have to do is get our family inside and survive. But I declare to you today that there was only one ark – that was Noah’s instructions – not ours. Now if we pull inside we all die!

So our attitude has become “Come and dine the Master calleth come and dine” and we sit inside the safety of the ark with the living waiting on the dead to come to us. They know where we are. They can find us if they really need us. When they get desperate enough they will beat our doors down. All the while we know they are starving to death for spiritual food and we have abundance and are unwilling to share.

Reminds of the woman who went to the pet store and purchased a parrot to keep her company. She took her new pet home, but returned the next day to report, “That parrot hasn’t said a word yet!” The storekeeper asked her, “Does the parrot have a mirror?” “Parrots like to be able to look at themselves in the mirror because they think it is another bird and then they begin to talk.” So the lady bought the mirror and returned home. The next day she was back, announcing the bird still wasn’t speaking. The storekeeper asked the lady, “Did you get the parrot a ladder? Parrots enjoy walking up and down a ladder. This will make the parrot happy and then it will start talking.” So she bought a ladder and returned home. Sure enough, the next day she was back with the same story – still no talk. “Does the parrot have a swing?” “Birds enjoy relaxing on a swing.” She bought the swing and went home. The next day she returned to the store to announce that the bird had died. The storekeeper with concern on his face replied, “I am so sorry to hear that. Did the bird ever say anything before it died?” “Yeah,” the lady said. “It said, ‘Don’t they sell any food down there?’”