What Do You Say?

            It is 11PM on September 10, 2013 as I am writing this article for our bulletin.  I wrote most of an article yesterday and I was going to finish it up today after dinner and have it ready for Wednesday night.  However, Becca said something to me, reminding me that Wednesday was going to be the twelfth anniversary of 9/11.  At that point, I immediately stopped what I was doing, sat down and began writing another article in the hope of interest by relevance.  That was two hours ago.  In that time, I did manage to write one article on the topic but, to be frank, it was impressively horrible, even by my own standards.  Finally, in frustration, I threw up my hands and asked the rhetorical question to myself: what do you say about 9/11 that hasn’t already been said a thousand times to the point where it seems like nothing more than a trite cliché? 

            It was during the contemplation of this question that I realized something: everything worth saying has already been said by much smarter people in much better ways.  And, that is when I realized something else: it didn’t matter if those things had been said a million times; if they needed to be said, then I need to say them.  It doesn’t matter that it’s been said a million times that the attack was evil and horrible.  It doesn’t matter that it’s been said a million times that the reaction of good people was amazing and wonderful.  It doesn’t matter; those things need to be said and repeated and repeated and repeated by those of us who still have a voice today.

            With that said, let me ask you this question: do you ever find yourself wondering what to say to someone who is lost in their sins because they are outside of Jesus Christ or because they are in unrepentant sin?  If you are anything like me (and, in this regard, I imagine that you are), then you’ve struggled with coming up with a different way to preach the Gospel of God’s Grace. 

            Friends, there is some flawed thinking in that and I’ll tell you why.  Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday and will be the same into eternity (Hebrews 13:8).  Jesus doesn’t change and neither does His message.  The Gospel is about Man’s sin and the inevitable consequence of that sin, eternal separation from God (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23a; Revelation 21:8).  The Gospel is about Man’s need for forgiveness and God’s willingness to give it (2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:1-9; Romans 5:6-11).  The Gospel is about God giving Jesus to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice which atones for all sin (Hebrews 9-10).  The Gospel is about Jesus raising from the dead to prove His victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 56-57).  The Gospel is about Him ascending to the right hand of the Throne of God to reign over His Kingdom, the Church He built and purchased with His own blood (Acts 2:29-36; 1 Timothy 6:15; Matthew 16:18-19; Acts 20:28).  The Gospel is the Lord’s invitation to all of those who are lost in their sins to come and be found by God in Christ by humbly answering the invitation (Romans 6; Acts 2:38-47).  This is the same message which was taught on Pentecost (Acts 2), at the Temple (Acts 3), by Stephen (Acts 6-7), by Philip (Acts 8), to and by Paul (Acts 9), to Cornelius (Acts 10), and all throughout the New Testament and all throughout the world.  The message is the same and it is just as powerful today as it was the first time it was preached (Romans 1:16-17).

            My point is this: when we try to do something in a different way, we make it about us instead of about it.  This goes for 9/11 and this goes for the Gospel.  What the world needs is plain speaking, especially when it comes to the Gospel of God’s amazing grace.  So, let us plain speakers of this greatest of messages (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16).  May we pray for more laborers (Matthew 9:38) and for more open doors (Colossians 4:3) and may the Lord be glorified in what we say (1 Corinthians 10:31)!

 

~Curtis Carwile