Living Next to the Prison

What would you do if you had just busted out of jail? Raju Gaji decided to take a nap.  

According to Reuters, Raju Gaji had been incarcerated in a prison in eastern India for a month when he made a break for it. All the way to the roof of the prison. Then he laid down and took a nap. When he woke up, he was looking into the barrels of several guns that guards were pointing at him. Something tells me he should have run a little farther before settling down for a rest. 

I’ve seen new Christians do the same thing. Fresh out of the spiritual prison of Satan, they settle down just outside the prison walls. They hang out with all of their old buddies. They go to all of the same places. They watch all of the same movies. Their aim is to do everything they used to do without participating in sin itself. It’s not that they want to be recaptured by sin. It’s not even that they want to take risks. It’s just that this is where their comfort zone has always been. They just don’t know any other way to live. 

This is where we who are more mature come in. Too often we work hard to bring someone to Christ only to leave them on their own the moment they do. We tell them that they need to change their lives, but we fail to show them how. And so we leave them sleeping on the roof of the prison. 

And we wonder why we lose so many new Christians. 

- Glenn Hawley

What is going on?

We gather around the Lord’s table on Sunday and partake of His meal. In so doing we are obeying his command. But what is taking place? Well, we are remembering. “Do this in remembrance of me.” Yes, but what is really taking place?

I would suggest that relationship is at the heart of the Lord’s Supper. Specifically we Christians renewing our relationship with Jesus. Other ideas certainly come into play, but this one is central.

At the cross, Jesus committed himself wholeheartedly to us in a way that never needs to be duplicated. When we were baptized, we committed ourselves to Him wholeheartedly in a way that never needs to be duplicated. But, weak creatures that we are, we forget our commitment. We slip into neglectfulness. We fail to live up to our oath of loyalty to our Lord.

Enter the Lord’s Supper, a weekly meal at which we remember our Lord’s sacrifice and we renew our vow to Him. Christ may never need to be reminded of His commitment to us, but we are blessed by our weekly meal with the Master. Through it the fullness of our memories are reborn. Through it we fan the flames of our relationship to Him.

Play Ball!

Who is the wealthiest player in professional baseball? Alex Rodriguez? Daisuke Matsuzaka? Derek Jeter? Try Matt White. Never heard of him? Maybe that’s because he is a journeyman minor league pitcher. He plays Triple-A ball for the Dodgers and has only pitched in seven Major League games in his 10-year career.

 What makes Matt White so special is the 50 acres he bought from his aunt a few years ago so she could get into a nursing home. When he started to build a house, he discovered he was sitting on an estimated 24 million tons of slate. Total value: $2.4 billion. In one day he went from a struggling minor-leaguer to a billionaire. It makes all those lottery winners pale in comparison.

Do you wish it could happen to you? Maybe it already has. The richest estate in the world is nothing compared to the acreage Christians have reserved for them in heaven. The unsurpassed greatness of our future home makes anything on this earth pale in comparison. Which is why it is so strange to see so many Christians living as if this world was as all there was to life. Their four walls and roof are more important than their room in God’s mansion. Their 401ks take priority over their eternal pension. They spend all of their time chasing after the things that will have no meaning in a few short decades. I feel sorry for them.

So what is Matt White doing these days? Pitching in the minor leagues, trying to make the big dance. He is not working for the money; he plays for the love of the game. Not so different from the Christian who, knowing he has an eternal inheritance, is motivated each day merely by a love of his Savior.

Play ball!