When I entered the office Monday morning, my entire team was gathered around our little supply closet, watching one of my associates attempt to unlock our safe. Our office manager extraordinaire, Mrs. Jeanne Nichols, is on vacation, meaning there are a few unusual tasks we have to complete in her absence. By the time I entered the fray, the battle with the safe had been going on for some time. Two volunteers and two pastors had already made their best attempts to crack the code so the counting team could get about their business, but to no avail.
It was quickly determined that it was my turn. I asked for instructions for how to open the safe and was handed a cellphone with a text message from our absentee expert. It gave the following directions: “Turn the dial 3x to the left stopping on # on the 4th rotation… Turn the dial 2x to the right stopping on # on the 3rd rotation… Turn the dial 1x to the right stopping on # on the 2nd rotation.” After trying and failing an embarrassing number of times with various alterations, we determined there were two choices available to us: 1.) Go get a Sawzall, or 2.) Seek expert assistance.
Are there crucial pieces of information that have become so common place to us that we fail to pass them on to others who desperately need them? Is it, perhaps, how we treat the life-altering truth of the gospel?
Much to my disappointment, we opted for the path of least destruction. We called Mrs. Jeanne and executed her instructions with her oversight and affirmation. And still, the safe remained shut, locked tight. Just when the Sawzall began to seem like a reasonable option, we were referred to a small card containing the original instructions. Upon reviewing the original source, we realized why we couldn’t get the safe to open. There was one final, extremely simple step that had not been passed on. When I recounted what had happened to our office manager, she replied, “Sorry. It’s just second nature to me.”
No apology was necessary, of course. It was a welcome reminder of one of the many things she does that we don’t see. But it also got me thinking about how we communicate essential truths of our faith to others. It made me wonder, are there crucial pieces of information that have become so common place to us that we fail to pass them on to others who desperately need them? Is it, perhaps, how we treat the life-altering truth of the gospel?
The truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is anything but common, but it is such a central feature of our faith that it is easy for us to treat it as every day, ordinary information that we assume everybody knows. In our current cultural moment, that is not a safe assumption. What’s more, failure to share the truth of the gospel, in Word and deed, is spiritual negligence. We are ALL called to serve as witnesses of what Jesus has said and done. In Matthew 28:19, we read these instructions from Jesus: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” It is the job of every follower of Jesus to invite all we encounter to become disciples of Jesus and to provide them with the instructions needed to do so. This isn’t to say we all need to be pastors or teachers, but we should all be witnesses who properly pass on what Jesus has done and what must be done to accept and experience His life-changing grace.
It is the job of every follower of Jesus to invite all we encounter to become disciples of Jesus and to provide them with the instructions needed to do so.
John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If there is a verse that has become more ordinary or is more taken for granted than this one, I don’t know what it is. This is the core of the gospel. God sent His Son, Jesus, to live and die, to make it possible for any and all to have true and full life, both now and forever more. But, how? What must one do to receive and experience this great gift? Romans 10:9 & 13 provide an answer: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved… for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” If we want to experience the power and presence of God’s saving grace, we simply need to believe and ask Him.
If you’ve believed and received God’s gift of grace, you know how amazing it really is. But the work of the gospel isn’t meant to end in our understanding or applying it to our own lives. It is our responsibility to make every effort to accurately share the instructions with others. May we repent of the times and ways we’ve taken God’s grace for granted and may we commit ourselves anew to sharing the life-changing love of God in word and deed.
