There was a guest in church today. A group known as Jesus revolution that travels the world sharing the Gospel through song, drama, gymnastics – whatever gift they have they use it.
They gave testimonial after testimonial of lives they’ve impacted. Person after person who has found a salvation that comes only through Jesus the Christ.
One of the guys told a story about this girl who after hearing about Jesus said, “this is really good news�. But she had one question. “All these years�, she said, “I’ve been living next door to a Christian woman and she’s never once told me this news…why? Why didn’t she tell me?� And the gentleman to whom she spoke didn’t have an answer. “Well,� she said, “when you go back and speak to your Christian friends can you tell them something for me?� “Sure�, he replied. “Tell them we want to know.�
“Tell them we want to know.�
Pictures starting flashing on the screen: children, the elderly, homeless, poor, crippled. All ages. All races. “Tell them we want to know.�
And suddenly there it was. Unmistakable. Undeniable. In the midst of a sea of drowning faces; a wounded and hopeless people, I saw it. I was afforded a glimpse, exposed to a mere sliver of the extent and the depth of my selfishness. How many people have I walked by? How many friends have slipped through my fingers? I tell myself they’re not interested. Or perhaps I’ll just be their friend; love them as best I can and wait for them to ask me questions.
“Tell them we want to know.�
Why am I ruled so by fear? Fear of man. Fear of rejection. Fear of judgment. What if they think I’m a freak? What if they laugh at me? What if I lose them as a friend? But a friend that withholds life can be no friend at all.
Sitting in that pew I close my eyes and I can see Christina. She rarely comes to mind. It’s been years since I’ve spoken of her and as the worship music plays in the distance I struggle to recapture an image of her face. Eventually one floats to the surface. She is lying in a coffin. There are roses, tears, and a room overflowing with good intentions. She hung herself when I was 19-years old. Hope was a foreign concept in that small laundry room as she fastened the belt around her neck. I’ve always wondered…what if she changed her mind. Moments after the chair fell to the floor perhaps the gravity of her actions were realized. But it was too late. More good intentions fade into the darkness.
How did we fail her so: her family, her friends, the church…this world? I’ll bet she wanted to know. She wanted to know so bad that it killed her.
But I’m no longer standing before her lifeless body; struggling with the overpowering urge to stare at her neck in order to catch a glimpse of the final marks this world inflicted upon her. No, it’s been many years since that day. I’m in a church a thousand miles away. The air conditioner is humming quietly in the background keeping beat with the worship music. Some people are praying, others talking. The crowd is getting restless as the service has exceeded its allotted time. The faces on the screen are long gone but those in my heart remain: Christina and countless others. Best friends – complete strangers.
There was a guest in church today. It was the Spirit of a living God who destroys good intentions. He was answering the prayers of the lost, dying, hopeless, poor, crippled and broken world. As one they cried out to Him in the midst of true darkness, “tell them we want to know.�
Bam Jason. You nailed it on the head. I am silent as I think. That line reverberated in my heart as well all week. And I thought of Amanda….who wanted to know. And now, she knows. Everyone thought I was a lost cause. But you didn’t. There is selfless grace working in you, rooting out the fear of shame; you took a risk with me, and look what eternal fruit has come!
I’ve had to seriously re-evaluate TIME since returning to campus; so many opportunities, so many dear friends, so many lunch meetings. It was really refreshing (in light of the 2 week series on temptation that Matt shared during your vacation) to prayerfully write out my priorities (all were relational)…and then actually write out how to portion the time before me so that I have taken the initiative rather than hoping it will all work out. It’s one of the most decisive turning points for me in a while; and God’s grace is with me to do one of the most powerful things in the world: WAKE UP.
The fear, the fog, it all begins to fade away in His Presence. I wanted to pray so bad in M2J this morning, to request, to beg, to beseech….but instead I just let the tears come. If I could ask for just one thing, it is for revelation of Him….to know Him more. Life flows with surgency from there. I’m ready Lord; my body is weak, but my spirit is willing!
Hi Jason.
This post made me cry. Cry for my Christianity which is in crisis and for people who want to know…
This post brought me to tears. Tears of shame and conviction. I firmly believe the reason we are saved is to tell others. The legacy Christ left us and his parting words was go and tell. Satan has tricked us into believeing nobody wants to hear. Let us rise up as a might army and tell the good news, the reason Christ came to rescue the world that was lying in Satan’s grasp and dying. But we are no longer answerable to Satan he was defeated at the cross. Let us live as victors and not as cowards. I speak this to myself first and foremost. Thanks for this wonderful reminder for my existence.