The Right Questions

I confess. I have been holding back writing about this--I'm not sure exactly why--but the Spirit keeps impressing this on my heart. So . . .

Over the years--much more in recent years but not exclusively in that time period--I've seen and read a lot of studies and articles about why people are leaving the church. There are a variety of complaints, many of them legitimate, I'm sure. After all, a vast majority of the people who attend church are humans. It's rather easy to find fault with them--so I've heard. And in every church there exists a number of people at all the stages of spiritual maturity and discernment. Frustrating at times, eh? And sometimes, to be honest, we may mistake the mature for the immature and visa-versa. "Except you become like a little child . . ." Yes, everyone has their issues and complaints explaining why they have left the fellowship of God's people for "greener pastures on the other side of the fence."
But I think we miss the real issue and fail to ask them the right questions. The simple truth is this: they have not "just" left the church, they have rejected the sacrificial love of God's Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Having at one time, at least mentally, assented to the truth of their need for a Savior and of God's loving sacrifice on their behalf, they now mingle among the priests and the soldiers at the foot of the cross and join the taunts--"fraud. Your death is a waste. You can't save anyone. I despise your love." As the writer of Hebrews says, they have 'trampled under foot" His precious blood, and they have "insulted the spirit of grace" that He offers. Like Judas they have kissed the Son, but in their heart of hearts sold Him out for whatever the thirty pieces of silver are that the world and the devil have used to buy their betrayal--the fragile acceptance and fleeting friendship of the world, the soap bubbles of man's foolish wisdom, the enslaving "freedom" of a life lived the way they want to live it, pursuing the pleasures they believe will satisfy. They put His sacrificial love for them to an open shame.

If we really love them--and I suppose on the surface those words above don't seem very loving--we will ask them these questions:

Why do you now believe that you don't need a Savior? Are you that good?
Why do you now mock the sacrificial love of God for you--love that God has made clear to you?
When you stand one day in His presence--the Lamb that was slain not just for you but in your place--what excuse will you make for having insulted His love? Do you actually believe that pointing your finger at a Christian and blaming him or her for your Judas-like behavior will appease Him--the Lion of the Tribe of Judah? How much grace do you think your "thirty pieces of silver" will buy you?
Why do you hate Jesus? And apathy--indifference--is the deepest hatred.

Believe it or not, I ask these things weeping over those of you that I know and love who have become enemies of the cross--those of you who have made a god out of your "appetites," who glory in your shame, who have set your minds on the emptiness that the world has offered you in place of His love and care and forgiveness. Unless you humble yourself before Him and repent your "end is destruction."

But you can repent. Between my third and fourth year at college I was one of those arrogant, insulting enemies. But God in His grace drew me back to Him. I pray He is drawing you back too. Surrender and embrace His full forgiveness. Trust me, a broken heart--and I have had others since--is the fountain of inexpressible joy. Inexpressible.

I love you.

But, oh, how He loves you! Look again at the cross where eternal love died in your place for all your sins. Get up out of the pig pen and come back home. For all of us who love you--beginning with the Father and His angels--it will be party time.

I promise that until you come home or until the Lord calls me home, I will weep for you before His throne.