WHERE ARE ALL THE CHRISTIANS?
Matt 10: 32 (p 688) May 22, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
In 1990, centerfielder Brett Butler left the San Francisco Giants as a free agent. He was loved in San Francisco, and rightly so. He was a great player. But the best offer came from the L.A. Dodgers - their cross state rivals. Early in the season, when the two teams met, Butler was the center of attention. He was well loved by his former team, and they were playing at their ball park in San Francisco. When the line ups were being announced and the players introduced, the crowd roared as Butler, their former player was announced. The people still loved him, even in a Dodger uniform. Perhaps they felt he ws still a Giant at heart.
Brett Butler did something interesting at that point. When he heard the response of the crowd, he walked up to his new manager, Tommy Lasorda, and hugged him, in front of the thousands of Giants fans that filled the stadium. Instantaneously, the cheers began to turn to boos and insults. After the game, he was asked by the press why he did that. Brett Butler replied, "It turned a page in my career. I'm an L.A. Dodger now; I'm not a Giant. That just kind of solidified it." I wanted them to know I'm a Dodger."
My firm belief is that when a person becomes a Christian they need to "Hug" Jesus in the presence of their family, friends, co-workers, and community. They need to make it clear in their circle of influence what team they play for now.
Just like the crowd which thought…"Hey maybe Brett's still a Giant at heart…He played for us for so long…He wore our uniform for so many years…maybe he's till a Giant underneath that dodgers uniform.
People often look at a new Christian with those same thoughts…He's still a "good ole boy", He's still one of us". Nothing has really changed…He might call himself a Christian but underneath it all nothing really any different.
But the truth is…that if you are a Christian things have changed your priorities have changed, your love has changed, life as you use to know it has changed.
And it's important to make that life change public…It's essential you "Hug" Jesus in front of the old crowd.
If you are unwilling to do so there is something terribly wrong with your commitment to your new team and your new manager.
What did Jesus say in connection to this?
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men I will disown him before my father in heaven." (Matt 10:32, 33)
1.
So the important question is…"where have all the Christians gone?" Are we….
I HIDING OUR FATIH
Jesus was asked what the greatest commitment was and he responded…
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all
your strength" (Mk 12:30)
If I do anything with that kind of commitment physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually there's no way it could ever be a secrete.
[Think about something your passionate about….maybe it's Red's baseball, or hunting or fishing….maybe its golf or even your new boyfriend or girlfriend…possible U.K. sports or U of L….How long would it take for someone to find that out? How long would it take for them to discover your passion…]
I'd guess not long since you probably dressed head to toe in Red or Blue….you spend your money and time on it…you love to talk about it…your proud of this passion and you don't have any problem letting the world know…
So my question is…why do we keep God in our pocket so many times…? Why our supposed heart's love, soul's love, minds is love, strength's love quietly ignored in our lives outside these walls.
I believe for many I have the answer or at least Dick Alexander does in an arraying article in the May 1st issue of Christian Standard called "Confronting our heresy". He begins the article by saying….
[I became a Christian at age 9 to escape Hell. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not the only thing, and maybe not the best thing. It took me years to get past fear and learn to love God. In retrospect, I wish I could have started with love.
The quintessential evangelism question is, if you died tonight, are you sure you would be in Heaven tomorrow? But statistically, the chances are small the person will die tonight. While it's dangerous to presume on the future, especially in the highest stakes game of all- eternity-is there a better and more realistic question?
Make no mistake-Hell is real, and nothing to be trifled with. But what about this question: If you don't die tonight, so what?
What will you live for tomorrow? If you have another 10 or 20 years to live, will your life matter? Is there a reason to get out of bed in the morning?]
When someone says, 'I got saved" the thing they usually mean is "I got my ticket to heaven punched" "I'm not going to Hell"
Folks, that's extremely important, but its only half the story…It's the Savior part of the story…It's heresy if we leave out the Lord part of the story.
2.
Many people have never found God…they've wanted God to join them…It's a total different picture when instead of expecting God to help us write our story, we decide to become part of His story.
Wilbur Rees once wrote sarcastically, "I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please."
In other words - the idea of selling out completely…a total commitment to the cause of Christ isn't really what I want…I don't want to go to Hell, but I don't really want things to change a lot. And therefore we put God in our pocket when we're with our friends, our family, and our co-workers and acquaints.
Jesus calls us to task when we think like this…He says authentic Christians have sold out and "bought the pearl of great price" in Matt 13: 45, 46.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
Too often Jesus is just one of many pearls…He's important…but I'm not going to sell everything for him…I'll keep some pearls and Jesus…He says "I think not…that's not how it works."
Jesus said to his disciples "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself you'll lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you'll find it" Matt 16: 24, 25.
If we would become lambs that Roar…We will not have one life where Jesus is barely present…a life where we are ashamed to "Hug" Him….and one life behind these walls where we present Him as someone we love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
We all know the primary reason why we're ashamed to "hug" Jesus in our life in the world…it's because we really don't want to give up the "world" part.
If I hug Jesus around my old friends I'll lose them… If I hug Jesus at work they'll think I'm some kind of religious freak. If I hug Jesus around my wife, girlfriend, or family now…all those things from my past come crashing in to be dealt with…will my new life be good enough to convince them its real.
We are afraid to roar in our new lines many times because we don't want to give up the old one…and were afraid we won't be god enough to prove its real.
What ends up happening…We hide our faith?
3.
What we fail to understand is that Jesus cannot become part of our lives…He is our life.
Work, play, home, public…which of these did Jesus tell you you don't need him for? or better yet, that He did not want to own or control.
We are to deny ourselves…but our tendency is to deny Christ---or at lest to deny Him in the parts of our lives we want to control. When we do that there are some real.
II CONSEQUENCES FOR HIDING OUR FAITH.
The primary consequence is we become unsalty. We lose our effectiveness.
We become people who live in fear and guilt instead of being genuine and authentic.
Instead of being a light set on a stand that illuminates the whole house we hide in under a basket.
Satan, the god of this world has continually crafted a plan…and its seems to be working.
Be "politically correct" A person's religion is personal and private between him and God. It's no one else business and shouldn't be publicly displayed!"
I'd ask this question…"It's that Scriptural?" Can we be all Christ expects us to be in a closet? Can we be the SALT He expects us to be…commands us to be, when; we refuse to acknowledge His "ownership" of our lives? Certainly we need to be sensitive and respectful. We need to chose our battles wisely and we must earn the right to be heard…but we are still commanded to be SALT and it seems to me if we want to become lambs that roar that includes being SALT in the spotlight of our public life. whether we are nurses, congressmen, teachers, accountants, or lawyers.
Here's a powerful example of what it means to be a roaring lamb.
ILLUSTRATION: - Will be on the TV screen-
…Johnny Hart burst onto the scene as a major cartoonist with the creation of
"The Wizard of Id" and the "B.C." cartoon strips. Those two strips, distributed
by Creators Syndicate, are among the most widely carried by nation's
newspapers. Fans of the two strips and of Mr. Hart enjoy both the sharp-edged
humor and the evocative drawing. But Mr. Hart startled many with what
has now become known as "the Good Friday Strip" by using his well-earned
position in the nation's newspapers to make a powerful statement about the
meaning of Easter:
CARTOON STRIP
But most of the nationally syndicated papers ran it…millions of people around the country read it…Christians and non Christians alike. Johnny Hart "roared" in a provocative and telling way…Why is it so far fetched to think that we can take our faith with us into the real world?
4.
Until we are ready to "hug" Jesus in the arenas of our real lives our schools will remain "salt free", our culture will have no light in its darkness, our world will have no healing for its brokenness.
And that's how I'll end this morning…we are all broken people…maybe that's what keeps us from roaring…pride that people will see behind the curtain and that the all powerful wizard…isn't.
You see we show the relevance and power of Christ through our brokenness…not in pretending it doesn't exist.
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot ws perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house.
Of course, the perfect pot ws proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to your."
"Why? asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the cold cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table.
5.
This is the exact reason Paul told the Corinthians…"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Cor. 4:7)
Lambs that roar are people who let God's grace leak out of the cracks of their lives so that every water brings hope and life to a dying world.
