What's-a-Matta whitch You, Baby?

How about that David Nystrom? He was good. He was “on” yesterday. He snuck the gospel in on us while we were looking at something else. He was a master of misdirection.

Did you notice what he said after he told a little story on himself? Remember, he told us he had just finished preaching a sermon on the topic of patience and then on the way to lunch after church he had a fit when someone cut him off in traffic. In fact he said he became “apoplectic,” which means he looked like he was having a stroke.

It was funny. We could see the irony, and we could relate to the lack of consistency that plagues us all. And then he took a step forward and squatted down right on the stage and looked us straight in the eye and was quiet for a beat or two and then, in a soft voice he offered us something special - if we had ears to hear it. He said, “We are all broken and we can’t fix ourselves.”

Oh! If we only knew that. If only we could actually believe that truth. If only we could become truly convinced it was so. I say that because it is evident to me that we need a constant reminder of that primary element in our relationship with God – we can, of ourselves, do nothing. This gospel-truth describes the way it is. It is not a should be. This is not a reminder of how we all ought to be. This is not a “you must try harder” message. We are not supposed to leave the building with a new found resolve to “do nothing” for Christ.

We can, of ourselves, do nothing. It is a fact. It is, like 186,000 miles per second, not just a good idea – it’s the law!

We are supposed to notice. We should become a little more aware. We should be able, at this point, to observe the truth – that we can’t fix ourselves and that we can, of ourselves, do nothing.

Why is this important? Why does it matter whether we “get” this or not? It is important because otherwise we are trapped in Revelation chapter three where the Laodicians didn’t realize, they couldn’t grasp, they failed to arrive at the only possible conclusion regarding their own spiritual condition – that they were poor and miserable and blind and naked. And so their relationship with Jesus couldn’t really get going. Jesus was still on the front porch knocking to be let in.

And because they didn’t get it they were unable, they had no chance, they did not have the equipment to relate to God on the only terms and conditions that work. The conditions are these: we got nothing; He has everything; He wants us that way. Letting Him in and receiving the revelation that we got nothing are two sides of the same coin.

It was Earth Day recently. I think Evangelical Christians need a lesson in Sustainable Energy. We could power a small city with the energy we waste trying to improve ourselves. It’s like we waste al that energy in an effort to avoid Jesus rather than simply coming to Christ as we are and telling the truth to Him and to ourselves. Nobody knows better than Jesus that “We are all broken and we can’t fix ourselves.”

Thanks David.

The Gospel Crank