the basic message #E212
11/9/03
The newspaper account of an accident was short, but concise: A 22 year-old woman had somehow lost control of her small car, crossed the median and spun out sideways. The driver of an oncoming Lincoln Navigator tried to avoid her, but ended up hitting the car directly in the driver's compartment. The young woman was dead, the other driver treated for minor injuries. A sad story to be sure, yet one that is repeated thousands of time every year in America.
Did the young woman get up that morning, get dressed, have breakfast and think, "I'll be dead in a few hours"? Of course not, fatal car crashes only happen to the other guy. The other guy has worse luck than we do, it seems. I live in Louisiana, a state that has one of the highest cancer rates in the country, yet do I really consider the fact that I personally have a very good chance of contracting cancer? No, that happens to the other guy. The other guy not only has the fatal car crashes, he gets serious diseases, has children that go astray, gets divorces and generally has a terrible existence. Oh, I forgot to mention something else that happens to the other guy: he goes to Hell.
Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
When Jesus spoke those words nearly 2000 years ago, he knew what the future held. He knew that there would be a large number of people who claim him as Savior, yet whose lives tell a different story. When we read this passage today and think about the guy that's on the broad road to destruction, what do we conclude? That guy is "the other guy". Nearly every professing Christian believes he is on the narrow road leading to life, yet most have never really considered their life and what it consists of. Most people wake up each morning and have no more thought of being barred from Heaven than to have thoughts of having car accidents or contracting a serious illness. I've been writing the basic message for over 6 years now, and I've had countless emails telling me that I focus too much on the negative side of things. I plead guilty to that charge without putting up much of a fight. I've tried to write the "happy-happy, everybody goes to Heaven" message that most folks long to hear, but it's a lie, and a lie is no place to include the words of Jesus Christ. When I read the Parable of the Weeds, I see something totally different than most of you. Let's look:
Matthew 13:24-26
"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared."
Many folks read this and think that the wheat is the Christian church and the weeds are the outside "lost" world. I disagree, simply because there are already weeds established everywhere in the world in the form of lost people. No, the enemy, Satan, sows weeds in the Church, and we're living in a time that weeds are more commonplace than wheat. The sad thing is that there are so many weeds that the Church has taken the easy way out and simply decided to call the weeds "another variety of wheat". The modern Christian church, in being so inclusive, winks at sin and condones actions that send people to Hell every day. Actually that's not completely true. The modern Christian church protects its own and preaches that, for instance, gay people go to Hell. You see, the Church must pronounce judgment on someone in order to make themselves feel better.
I could write thousands of more words on this subject, but one thing remains consistent- the people who are concerned about their eternity will be concerned and the rest of the world will go on it's merry way. Of the thousands that read this message in its entirety. 99.9% will walk away thinking, "the nerve of that guy- saying that I might go to Hell". Do yourself a favor- think about what you'd do if you contracted cancer or had a serious car accident that might leave you an invalid. Do you have any sort of plan for your life if these things happen? Before I close, do you remember the story of the young woman I mentioned at the beginning of this message who was in the car accident? She made a mistake and that mistake cost her her life, but perhaps you didn't consider the other victim. True, the other driver did walk away from the crash, but make no mistake, he is mentally scarred for life with a feeling that he killed someone, although he couldn't have avoided the collision. The connection is simple- when we're actively walking down that broad road to destruction, we seldom walk alone. If we set the tone in our household for a belief system that removes repentance and holiness from our lives, we involve others in the ultimate collision. Yes, we not only sentence ourselves to Hell, we often bring our family along due to our stupidity and neglect.
Isn't it time to recognize that the "other guy" is us?