1 1/2 blocks from the Superdome on game day 2/3/2013.
What do Missouri State University students and people in New Orleans (especially during the Super Bowl Weekend) have in common? I’m sure a lot of people in both places like to party. But I want to concentrate on the spiritual aspect of both places, concerning the open proclamation of the Gospel. There are hecklers at both places and even fewer people who are in favor of the Gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed in the open air. But the main thing both groups have in common is that the majority of people are apathetic or indifferent to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Notice the people in the picture above on Super Bowl Sunday).
It breaks my heart to see people who are indifferent to Jesus. Personally, I’d rather see hecklers any day. John Wesley used to say “convert them or make them mad.” Mr. Wesley understood that someone who is angry over the Gospel, may very well be under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I think what Mr. Wesley was also saying is that people who are angry over Jesus may actually be closer to surrendering to Him than those who are apathetic.
When we go out street witnessing, unfortunately we mainly see people who are indifferent. In fact, most of the time when we are handing out tracts, the majority of people refuse tracts and most of them say, “no, I’m good.” They have no idea that they really aren’t good. They have no idea that they are vile, sinful creatures who desperately need the cleansing that only comes through Jesus Christ. They don’t understand that only Jesus can save them. But they think that they are “good” so they don’t realize that they really do need a savior, the only Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sometimes we even tell people who say “no, I’m good” that what they are saying is exactly the point. Sometimes we say to them “that’s the point – how good are you?” Because everyone thinks that they are good (Proverbs 21:2). Think about it; no matter how bad you are, you justify your actions as being right. You do what you want to do because you think that what you are doing is right – that it is OK. This goes for fornicators, adulterers, idolators, thieves and liars. People justify their actions to themselves.
But it doesn’t matter what we think is right or wrong. Right is right and wrong is wrong and Jesus, the good Judge will judge us all (there is a different judgment for believers and unbelievers). Acts 17:30-31 states, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in righteousness by that man whom he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
If you are reading this today and you are indifferent to Jesus, I pray that God will break your hard heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I pray that God in His great mercy, will grant you repentance and faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. I pray that God will take the scales from your eyes and that you will see yourself in your full sinfulness, especially compared to His perfect Holiness. I pray that God will convict you to cry out to Him, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).
I pray that you will turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. I pray that you will turn away from your indifference and fall at the Master’s feet, begging for mercy and grace. I pray that God will then put a burden in you for the lost. I pray that God will raise you up as a laborer that He will use for the harvest (Matthew 9:37). May God save your soul and use you to reach many others, in this lost and dying world. I pray that God will transform you from indifference to making a difference. That He will use you to help further His kingdom, all for the glory of God.