Someone went to Hell today while you played video games. Someone didn’t get the opportunity to learn about Jesus because you were busy watching television. We say we’re committed to Jesus but live mostly for ourselves. For too many Christians, the only thing to which they are committed is their own safety, security, comfort, and living like everyone else in their culture.
We fail to live for Jesus because we’re too busy keeping up with the Jones’s. Our apathy is literally sending people to Hell. It’s not their fault, it’s ours. We don’t tell them, we don’t reflect Jesus with our lives, and when it comes down to it we find too many things more important than living like a disciple of Jesus.
Not everyone will come to Christ. As creatures of free will, people can choose to accept or reject Jesus. It is up to each individual to either believe the truth about God or to go their own way. But it is our job to reflect the character of God and to live our life in service to others. It’s our responsibility to look like Jesus, not to look like our neighbors.
How many people are in Hell today because we hesitated to disrupt our schedule on their behalf? How many face an eternity separated from God because we didn’t hold up our end of the deal? We are the hands and feet of Jesus. I don’t see any place in Scripture where Jesus’ hands and feet were idle. I don’t find a single time where Jesus put His enjoyment ahead of His service to others.
Jesus had fun (Matthew 9:9-12); He celebrated with others (John 2:1-2). Still, everything He did was in the context of furthering His mission and building the Kingdom of God. Jesus never had a wasted moment. It seems like our own lives are little more than an endless pursuit of wasting time. If you can’t put Jesus in the context of what you are doing then you shouldn’t be doing it. Want to know if you’re in God’s will? Ask yourself if you could picture Jesus doing what you are doing. If you can’t, you aren’t in His will.
There are very real consequences to being out of the will of God and pursuing your own work instead of His. Those consequences very well could be that someone doesn’t get the encouraging word they needed because you turned and looked the other way. They could be that someone never knows there is a God who loves and cares for them, so they attempt suicide. Or it could be that someone dies and goes to Hell on your watch.
If we don’t demonstrate the love of Jesus to them, who will? If we won’t be the hands and feet of Jesus, then we aren’t part of Him at all. Did you ever notice that hands and feet are full time workers? They don’t take time off, and neither can we. We’ve got to be about the mission of Jesus. It is our responsibility to teach and live the message of Jesus. We’ve got to start living as Jesus lived and demonstrating the character of God to others. We’ve got to stop being selfish and we must stop standing still, watching idly as people go to Hell.