You’ve seen the tracks, or the billboards, or the sermon outline with any of the above pictures used. They all have man on one side with God on the other. The gap that separates them normally has a lot of fire. A cross makes a bridge to get us to God. The truth is simple enough: Jesus saves. Here’s my question: Are we showing people that it’s worth crossing the gap?
Do we communicate well why someone should “repent and believe?” If they asked us why it mattered, wouldn’t our response be something like: “So you can go to heaven/not go to hell!” “So you can be saved!”
What if, though, that wasn’t the pressing issue on their minds? What if heaven and hell don’t seem like a problem they are dealing with at that moment? Why should they cross the bridge?
Here’s my thoughts this morning. Jesus told us that He came “…so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10)
Do we, as Christians, show that we have life in abundance? Or do we show that we have church attendance? Do we show that we live our life fully devoted to Christ, or that we just live life like everyone else does?
If our lives show no real difference other than that we’re a little busy on Sunday mornings, then why should anyone come to Christ based on our lives? Do we show them that we follow rules that mean we have less “fun” or that we follow a Savior who shows us life as it was meant to be lived? Do we experience God on a daily basis or do we experience Sunday morning preaching?
Another point: if we don’t take the time to be honest about sin and the effects it has not just in eternity but in life right now, we’ll just give them more reason to stay on their side of the divide. Yes, without Jesus sin will send you to hell. No doubt. However, won’t sin make life hell for you right now? We’ve got to show and say how having Jesus in us frees us from the chains of sin eternal and sin everyday.
We can sit and wonder why our churches aren’t experiencing growth, but in the mean time lets sit and think about how the lack of growth in our lives might just be the reason others see no need to cross the bridge.
