Recap of Youth Devotion, September 2, 2009
Last week we discussed why church people find Jesus so controversial. This week, we discussed the opposite–the un-churched.
1. Some people just can’t believe He is the Savior.
90% of Americans believe in God. And most of those believe that Jesus was a real historical figure. But the number of those who believe He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died in our place on the cross, and was raised from the dead is a whole different matter.
2. Some can’t believe Salvation is that simple.
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent. 1 Corinthians 1:19 NLT
One of the hardest things for non-Christians to understand is that all you have to do is believe and confess. And that’s it. The life change that they hear us preach about happens over time, but Salvation is very simple. Too simple for many folks. It’s almost an insult to the intelligent, offensive that good works aren’t required and foolish for a simple prayer to accomplish something so complicated.
3. Some can’t believe that Jesus is the only way.
The church that claims the most followers in America today is the church of Oprah. And with good reason: universalism. Universalism is the belief that everything is right, as long as you truly believe it. How convenient. But not controversial. When we tell people that Jesus is the only person who loved them so much that He sacrificed His perfect life on their behalf, it’s offensive to them. It’s the most controversial thing we can say.
So, I pose the same question as last week: Are you being controversial? Do people even know that you are a Christian? Are you making waves by standing up for what’s right?
