If you have read or watched the news lately, there is a lot of trouble being stirred up all over the world, not to mention right here in the great US of A! Of all of the tensions that are going on right now, the one that has everybody captivated is the crisis in Iraq. Men, women, boys, and girls are losing their lives simply because of their faith. Right now in the comfortable life we live in the US, there are people, still, that don’t seem to care that there is undeniable pain and suffering happening to the body of Christ. Our actions can say way too often, “What’s the big deal?” It doesn’t affect me where I am!
I want to challenge you as you read this; when one of us is hurting––we all hurt! You hear words like “Common Core” in education. Entertainment says, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Politics say, “Peace in the Middle East.” Christians say, “Jesus is coming back!” The world says not “Who is this Jesus?” but “Who cares about Jesus?”
So what’s the big deal? The big deal is that we are called to be actively living for Christ, loving Christ, reflecting Christ, and actively looking for ways to “Make Christ Famous!”
“What the big deal?” JESUS is the big deal!
He came to seek and save the lost! – Luke 19:10
He is our forgiveness! – 1 John 1:9
He is Love! – 1 John 4:10
He is our Hope! – Psalm 33:20
He is our Joy! – Psalm 28:7
He is a Big Deal! – John 10:10
As you go about your day, whether you live in the safety of a free nation or inside the borders of a nation that is “hostile” to the Gospel of Jesus, know that you are a BIG DEAL to Jesus!
Let’s pray, give, serve, and love the people of Iraq, St. Louis, and around the world that are living through some pretty heinous tragedies right now! Remember the words of Jesus:
John 16:33 (NLT), “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Now that’s a BIG DEAL!
Today at work I got a chance to get to know a young man who is a recent hire. We got on the subject of different religions when we talked about his old job and how he was the only one who respected people’s religions in their kosher requirements. He talked with me about a school project he had one time about tolerance that required him to speak with people of religions or beliefs he didn’t agree with and out of that experience he developed an extreme distaste for Christianity. It broke my heart when he listed off a number of churches in town who’s pastor’s/priests didn’t want to talk with him or educate him or “waste their time with him” as he put it. But the Jewish Rabbi accepted him in and happily showed him the Torah Scrolls and educated him on their traditions.
He said Christians are intolerant. He told me about all the online comments that came about when Robin Williams committed suicide. Many people claiming to be Christians made comments about hoping he would burn in Hell because Suicide is bad. WHERE is the LOVE?! WHERE is the compassion that Jesus had himself!? Do they not know the religious people of Jesus’s time who acted like this were the people he was constantly rebuking?
I was so sad that so many churches rejected him. Many people here in our free nation are “hostile” to Christianity because we created that hostility ourselves. I asked if he tried my church. He told me he didn’t and said, “If most of the people there are like you then I’m sure they are great.” This was a heavy reminder of just how much people make judgments based on one person. As one who calls myself a “Christian” I truly am an ambassador for Christ. What people see from me is how they view Jesus. We need to be doing our best to reflect who Jesus really is and was rather than adding our own beliefs and attitudes to Him. How we reflect Christ is a Big Deal.