Would you say the gospel of Jesus is being spread in the area where you live? Is the environment for Christianity getting better or worse? Unless you live in a small pocket of the world unknown to me, my guess is your answers to those questions will not be encouraging. People don’t want to hear the gospel of Christ, they want to revel in their “own truth”, in whatever makes them happy. The irony is people are not getting happier. They aren’t happy at all.
The suicide rate, particularly among younger people, is skyrocketing. Fear and anxiety, fueled by a relentless push by the ever-present media bombarding our every second, are rampant. Anger and rage fill the newsreels and feeds of social networks. And yet so many churches and Christians seem to be content to watch it unfold. We’re not stepping into the fray with the hope of Jesus. We’re not engaging in the battle; we’re coasting in our faith.
There are exceptions, but they seem to be so few. The complacent Christian should be the exception, not the norm. We can’t ignore what’s happening outside the doors of our churches and our homes. Pastors need to be courageous and not shy away from speaking out against the sin in our world. A coasting church is no threat to Satan and his demons. Those churches will be left alone. The same is true for each of us as individuals. We cannot sit idly by as the world goes down in flames. We were not called to quietly watch people go to Hell, but to tell everyone about the hope and salvation of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).
The battle is not for our survival but for the souls of the lost. We spend countless time and money securing our comfort and sustainability while ignoring the neighbor who will go to Hell unless we tell them the good news of Jesus. The world grows darker because God’s people are not shining His light into it. We can push back darkness, but not as long as we’re content to coast and get along quietly. Jesus wasn’t quiet. He didn’t coast. No, He engaged the evil in the world head-on wherever He went. Jesus did not compromise for the sake of being winsome or keeping quiet for fear of offending someone. Our Lord spoke the truth boldly because He understood the consequences of unbelief.
Do we possess the same desperate hope for those without Christ? Do our hearts break at the thought of the random stranger we encounter going to Hell? The stakes could not be higher, and the consequences are devastatingly real. Are we so callous and selfish to be content in our coasting through life? It’s not about getting to the end, it’s about how we live until we get there. I don’t want to coast into the arms of Jesus. I want to be fighting sin and evil all the way into His presence. There’s no coasting allowed for true followers of Jesus. The world is desperate for the love of Christ, even if they don’t recognize it. Our duty is to put Him on display everywhere we go. Don’t shy away from the battle. Get up, stand firm, and shine the light of Christ into the darkest corners of your world.