Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20
If I was on an airplane that was going to crash in a few hours—what would I do? I think I’d first spend some time searching my heart with God to make sure I’m ready to die. That wouldn’t take long because I’m ready. After that, I’d write love notes to my lovely wife and our two daughters. I’d probably write some other notes to friends and family. And a general letter to my church. Let’s say I can do all that in an hour and still have a couple hours before the plane crashes and I die. To make this more interesting, let’s say the man next to me owns a magazine widely read throughout the states. In the previous hours on the plane—before we knew we would crash—he opened up to me about his need for God—and he received Christ! Once we discovered we were going to crash, he said to me, “If you write an unfiltered appeal to receive Christ, I will see to it that it is published in my magazine the week after we die.” What would I write knowing that millions of readers would read it? It’s 11:12 am Friday October 29th. I’m going to pretend my plane is going down at 12:30–since that’s when I have to leave for an appointment. Here’s what I would write.
As I’m writing this, I’m speeding through the skies at 30,000 feet and we’ve been told by the pilot that the plane will crash soon. The dear man sitting next to me is the owner of this magazine and he asked me to quickly write a letter to all his readers about the message of Christ—which he just received!
I can’t waste time telling you all about my life. I’ll just say that for the first couple decades I accumulated a lot of guilt and shame. I then had a life-changing encounter with Christ that set me on a new path that I’ve not veered from in over 30 years. I’m a pastor of a church in Providence, Rhode Island called Renaissance Church (though by the time you read this I’ll be dead so I won’t be the pastor).
Ultimate reality
I realize that the readers of this magazine have varying viewpoints about God and religion. I’m just going to speak plainly and not water anything down. I realize that it’s popular these days to believe that no one really knows anything about God for certain and to believe that all religions and worldviews are good—as long as they work for us pragmatically. But I’m here to challenge this assumption. Some people believe there is no God, some believe in Christ, some Allah, some believe there are millions of gods, some have fashioned their own god from bits and pieces of various religions, and so on. But philosophically these all cannot be true. If you could take a little trip to the Great Beyond, you would realize that ultimate reality is one thing—and only one thing. The real question to ask is this: Does anyone on earth know what that ultimate reality is?
I’m now climbing onto my imaginary soap box and telling you with deep conviction that God has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. There is no other mediator between God and us but Christ. There’s no other name under heaven that can save our souls but the name of Jesus. This is the blunt message of the Bible: apart from Jesus Christ we cannot be saved on the Day of Judgment.
Now, since the plane is going down soon, I really don’t have time to try to prove to you that Christ is God and Savior, and that the Bible is the Word of God. You’ll have to do that on your own. My hope is to stir you in that direction.
God’s design
The way God has designed things is that we can find Him if we want to find Him. He has given us more than enough evidence to believe in Him. And He’s given us plenty of reasons to not believe in Him. It’s an issue of the heart, always. The secret to discovering the Truth is to be completely willing to do God’s will. To embrace the truth no matter what the truth is—because it is true. Any kind of unwillingness and coming to God on our own terms and such, will greatly cloud our ability to see. This raw prayer of surrender to the God we don’t know yet is always the starting point.
Elephant in the room
I must address the elephant in the room regarding the strange expressions of Christian faith we see today. In America, Christianity, for better or for worse, is woven into everything. It’s in the water. It’s baked into American culture. However—many of you think the Christian faith is something very different than what it is. I’m not blaming you for that. I get it. The portrait of Christianity we’ve been given is based on experiences we’ve had in churches or with professing Christians. We’ve met hypocrites. We’ve read about scandals. We’ve seen hundreds of caricatures on TV and in movies. We’ve watched Christian political zealots spew their views arrogantly. We’ve heard false prophets and we’ve seen very very strange things done in the name of Jesus. We’ve seen how pathetic and shallow popular Christian art and music can be. It all seems ugly, narrow, even toxic.
Well, you are absolutely right that much of what poses as the Christian faith is unattractive. If I can be so blunt to just say, much of this so-called Christian enterprise will be cast into hell on the Day of Judgment. Jesus talked a lot about this. He warned that on that great Day many will claim to be Christian, but in reality will not really know Him. Much of what we see in America is not the life of faith Christ called us to. It’s the business of religion. It’s fake and phony. Much of it is run by Satan, not God. What I’m saying is that many of you are rejecting a perversion of the Christian faith—which should be rejected. I reject it too! Jesus Himself rejects it.
Message of Jesus
The question to consider is—what exactly is the message of Jesus? What kind of life does He call us to? Many assume the message of the Bible is essentially this: be good. While, yes, God does call us to live sacrificial lives of love and to be like Him in character—that’s not the essential message at all! If the message was merely commandments to obey a blinding holy standard, it wouldn’t be good news. In fact, it would only make us feel rotten and terrible about ourselves. You know, the way the church some of you grew up in made you feel.
The real message is this: We have all sinned and are guilty before God—but God has sent His Son to die in our place to purchase our pardon and give us eternal life. This is the message from Genesis to Revelation. It’s a message of redemption. The message is that we cannot earn salvation by good works or penance or even religious devotion. God is so holy that even the best people of virtue are filthy in comparison. But God, in His unfathomable love and mercy, clears our guilt through the shedding of His blood on the cross—if we place our trust in Him.
More than information
The message of Jesus wasn’t just information. Christ demonstrated the reality and goodness of God by thousands of dramatic miracles and ultimately by raising from the dead and appearing to hundreds of people on multiple occasions and places! Thousands upon thousands of Christians were martyred in the first century, not because they were good people who cared for the poor. They were burned at the stake, devoured in the arena by lions, flogged and crucified, beheaded, for one reason—for insisting that Jesus Christ was and is the only true God and Savior of the world.
Do you understand why the message of Jesus is called good news? The word “gospel” actually means good news. When we place our trust in Christ, God does not count our sins against us. He washes us clean. He gives us a new life. He transforms our heart. He reconciles us to Himself. I know it seems hard to imagine, but when God reconciles you to Himself you experience nearness to God. Intimacy. There’s an assurance through the Holy Spirit that you are a child of God. The fear of death is gone. There’s a confidence approaching the Day of Judgment because you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
The Christian life isn’t just accepting certain ideas of who God is. It’s not just a set of beliefs to hold onto. When we open our hearts to God, He ushers us into His presence. We realize that our whole lives we were spiritually dead and alienated from God. We realize we were estranged from the One who made us. Suddenly, or perhaps gradually, we experience a communion with the living Christ that is more real than anything in this world. I can’t really explain that, but I can attest that I—along with millions and millions of others in the last 2000 years—have experienced it.
Rethink and cry out
Ah! Okay the plane is going down in a few minutes so I have to wrap this up. I wish I had more time! I’m typing fast—on my phone. My appeal to you is to rethink the Christian faith. Take a fresh look at it and search it out for yourself. Read through the New Testament. I would recommend reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Or Reason For God by Tim Keller.
Most importantly, just cry out to God—even if you aren’t sure who He is or even if He is. Just go straight to Him and say, “Are you there? Who are you? What do you want me to do? Reveal Yourself please! I know that I’m guilty in many ways. I’m not going to pretend that I’m perfect. Can you wash me and prepare me for eternity? Help!” Something like that but in your own words. Don’t try to clean yourself up first before crying out. Just go to God as you are with all your imperfections.
Great separation
Along with the beautiful good news of the message of Jesus is the sobering reality that every single human being, great and small, will one day stand before the Eternal Judge, God. There will be a great separation of sheep and goats. This separation was a recurring theme in the teachings of Christ. Everyone does not end up in future glory. There is a place of separation from God. Scripture calls it hell. We don’t know exactly what it will be like but, suffice to say, it doesn’t sound good. It’s a place where God’s lavishing mercies and kindnesses are absent. Jesus talked more about hell than any other character in the Bible. Because He loves us and doesn’t want us to go there.
God longs for you!
It is plain in Scripture that God doesn’t want anyone to perish or be separated from Him. We were created to know and enjoy Him forever. He wants you to be near Him. He wants you to find covering and refuge in Him. He wants to be your shepherd and your father. He longs for you to come to Him. He invites all who are weary and weighed down by sin and guilt to come and find rest. Even if we are the worst sinner on the planet—we can find mercy in Christ!
I want to let you know that you will never find all the answers to mysteries about God in this life. Theologians spend their entire lives trying to figure out the many paradoxes in Scripture. If the God of the Bible could be easily understood, He wouldn’t be the One True God. We see through darkened glass. But we see enough to lead us to peace with God.
Peer pressure
Coming back down to earth (no pun intended as we are starting to descend for the crash) I want to encourage you not to let people influence what you believe. On one side, there are crazy professing Christians that can cause us to repel all things Christian. On the other side, there are all kinds of “enlightened” people who we consider intellectual who are pushing us away from being Christian. History has proven again and again that the majority can be wrong. Don’t listen to your friends, your mom, your professors, your priests or pastors, politicians, authors, celebrities, favorite artists—no one! I’m not saying we shouldn’t thoughtfully consider people’s ideas. But be aware of good old fashioned peer pressure.
I’m making the point that this life is short. We are here for a blip then we vanish. Don’t worry about fitting in. Being a follower of Jesus is like being a pilgrim and stranger in this world. They hated Jesus because He was not of this world—and His true followers are also not of this world. I don’t like not fitting in. Who does? But I am fully persuaded that being who God created me to be is infinitely more important than fitting into this present world which is passing away.
Open your heart!
My friends, cast yourselves on the mercy of God. March to the beat of a Different Drum. This life is like a tiny speck of sand on an infinite beach. We will practically blink and it’ll be over. I became a Christian in the spring of 1989 and have no regrets at all. The light of Christ still burns brightly in me. I’m more convinced now than ever that Christ is good, true and beautiful. In a few minutes I will pass from this life into the next. I will see His face. To be absent from the body is to be present with Him! Oh my friends, come to Him. He loves you with an everlasting love. His arms are wide open. Don’t be proud. Don’t let the thought of what people will think cause you to push Jesus away. He created you. He gave His life for you. Open your hearts to Him and let Him regenerate you. You’ll never be the same. And you’ll forever wonder why you didn’t come to Him sooner.
Okay, about to crash, hope to see you in that glorious new city described in the last two chapters of the Bible!
Scott