I’ve come a long way in my
approach to accepting my fellow believers where they are in their journey, because
I was once way behind the curve in the road and struggling to understand grace
as I panted after the Lord hoping my many works would please Him. Last night
though, I had a hard time.
Last night the speaker used
coarse humor sandwiched in between cries from a puppet as the puppet realizes its need for grace (who is not by the way, a hot girl) . My husband and I sat there watching as the children
roared with laughter as sponge bob was given to answer as to how you may cleanse yourself from sin. No, was the obvious answer, to more roars of laughter, and so it
went. At another point the kids were told they were all winners, “wieners”? the
puppet retorted. A young man was brought up on stage to sing “Jesus Loves Me”
but the ventriloquist had the words “and the girls” mingled into the song.
Anyone who knows me knows I
am all about having fun, but not at the expense of the gospel. J.C. Ryle
presented to gospel to children many times, (I love the way he spoke to
children) He never spoke to them as though they were too young to understand
this message, and neither did Jesus. He never felt the need to make the message
relevant, by inserting ridiculous icons, and coarse humor (Wieners? Really?) He just spoke to them about who they were (sinners)
and what they needed (grace)
When my first child was
born I remember my mother saying something profound to me, “you talk to him
like he’s a person.” I always have, and I always will. There is life and death
in the power of the tongue. Don’t waste it on foolishness.
Paul said, “For although I
am free in every way from anyone’s control, I have made myself a bondservant to
everyone that I might gain the more for [Christ]. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might
win Jews; to men under the law, [I became] as one under the law, though not
myself being under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those
without, (outside) law I became as one without the law, not that I am without
the law of God and lawless toward Him, but that I am [especially keeping] and committed
to the law of Christ that I might win those who are without the law. To the
weak (wanting in discernment) I have become weak (wanting in discernment) that
I might win the weak and over scrupulous. I have [in short] become all things
to all men, that by all means (at all costs and in every way) save some [by
winning them to faith in Jesus Christ] And I do this for the sake of the good
news (the Gospel), in order that I may become a participator in it and share in
its [blessings along with you].” I Corinthians 9:19-23
John Piper has an excellent
sermon on this very topic, here
The gist of it is love.
Finally I will leave you
with a remarkable video from Penn from the Penn and Teller fame, as he
describes an interaction he had with a believer. We should all be so lucky to
be described thus by a nonbeliever. Penn remains an unbeliever, but you can see
as he talks that something about that interaction moved him.
That man who went to his
show, who did not eschew a “worldly performance” planted seeds…someone else
will water them….and God will cause them to grow…because he loved the gospel enough to spread it.
Love
He loved the lost enough to interact with them, not cut himself off from them, like he was better than them. He knew he was once one of them and he had something to tell them. He didn't forget that he was once one of them.
We have something to share.
People ask me ALL the time, what has made you so different now from how you were then? The ONLY answer I have, is Jesus Christ. And the door to grace is flung wide open.
It has been the beat of my
heart for some time…to simply love as He did.
And for the record... I don’t
have any issues with wieners” aka “hot dogs” or sponge bob or girl crazy boys…just
not in the middle of a presentation of the gospel of grace…there is a time and
place…
That wasn’t it
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