Devo 21
4/10/00
Rather than filling up the first half of this devo with a bunch of boring information about how my last week went (for those two or three who DO care, you can call me), I think I'll just jump right into today's topic.
"Back to the Basics"
I am currently involved in a study based around a book called "Becoming a Contagious Christian". The purpose of the book is pretty obvious; to help the reader develop the kind of lifestyle that will attract unbelievers to the believer. Part of this development is in learning different ways to present the gospel effectively. As part of our study, we then broke up into one-on-one groups to practice evangelizing using some of the different approaches listed in the book. I had done this sort of thing before as part of my Timberlake training, but I had never really given it much effort. After all, this is stuff I'd been learning since kindergarten, I knew it backwards and forwards--and my partner, to whom I was to be sharing, was the same way. Consequently, we would kind of 'yada-yada' each other into heaven.
But, believe it or not, I learned something in my four years at Timberlake; when you are witnessing to unbelievers, you can't 'yada-yada' them into heaven. The facts and methods of salvation which are so obvious to me, are not near so clear to one who has never heard them. As Christians, when we speak of salvation and forgiveness we like to throw out big ACT words like 'redemption', 'justification', 'sanctified', 'holy', 'grace', and 'mercy'. The problem is, I'm not sure that too many Christians even know what these words mean. At the very least, they have become such a part of our evangelistic patter, that we rarely stop to think of what we're saying. Another problem is that being Christian's ourselves, we will tend to make it a given that the unbeliever will want what we have. In some cases this is true; a person will be in such a position in their lives that the supernatural is their only path left. A lot of times, though, especially among the college crowd, the thoughts of divine are only far off echoes of childhood Sunday school that can't possibly have any relevance today. For a lot of college students, it is hard to think of any needs that can't be filled apart from a strong social life. And when their physical life is being satisfied so completely, it is hard to convince them that their spiritual life is seriously lacking.
When we did our role-playing last Tuesday night, I tried to make an effort to use as few 'religious' words as possible, or when I did I made sure I explained it before hand. Sometimes, I think I came off as if I was talking to a first grader as I was constantly searching for a different way to say things. But other times I found myself gaining a little clearer understanding of the Gospel in my searching for a new perspective. Not only did I begin to understand the salvation process more, I also began seeing (I think) an unbeliever's perspective of Christianity. To make an unbeliever understand and care about the message you are bringing, you have to be able to present it in a way they can understand and care about.
I hadn't planned on doing this when I started writing, but I think I'll try it. For the next couple of weeks, I want go back over the concept of salvation, why we need it, how we get it. The purpose is not because I think some of you need to be converted--as far as I know, most if not all of you are Christians already. Instead, I think it is important that as Christians, we have as firm a grasp on this most basic and intrinsic part of our lives as we can get.
Lastly, in order to put our minds in the right attitude, we need to remember that at one time, all of us were unbelievers ourselves. Wretched sinners, saved by grace alone. How a Holy, Awesome, Magnificent Creator can look past my many rebellions and still call me His son will be the greatest mystery I will ever encounter. And yet He has, and I will see Him one day. This is why I like this song so much--it reminds me of who I am and who God is and of the great inexplicable Love He has for me...
"When God Ran"
by: Benny Hester
Almighty God,
The Great I Am
Immovable Rock,
Omnipotent powerful
Awesome Lord,
Victorious Warrior
Mighty Conquerer,
Commanding King of Kings
And the only time,
The only time I ever saw Him run
Was when
He ran to me,
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise when God ran
The day I left Home,
I knew I'd broken His heart
I wondered if
Things would ever be the same,
Then one night,
I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road, ahead I could see
It was the only time,
The only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me,
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise, It dropped me to my knees
When God ran
Holy God, Righteous One
Who turned my way
Now I know, You've been waiting
For this day
See ya next week.