The world needs Jesus and we are where the world is going to get Jesus. From our hands and feet and mouths and hearts. We are the church—the body of Christ. I am not calling you to go knock on doors or to canvas neighborhoods, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I am not calling you to hand out tracts to complete strangers. I’m not even going to call you to stand on a corner and preach the gospel. There is nothing wrong with those things. But that isn’t what I’m talking about. I am calling you to the same thing your Bible calls you to.
It isn’t complicated. I am talking to you about a radically transformed life that naturally and uncontrollably overflows. I am calling you along with the apostle Paul to “let love be genuine.” To let love. I am calling you with Jesus to “let your light shine before others.” This isn’t about making, it is about letting. If truly you have heard and received the Gospel, then truly all you must do today Christian is to let. Stop hiding underneath every false identity and embrace the truth that it is “not I, but Christ.” Let.
Stop hiding your pet sins and confess. Today! Literally. (Honestly tell someone about your struggles and temptations and that alone will do wonders.) Stop hiding underneath your circumstances. Stop hiding behind your walls erected because of past hurts and betrayal. Stop hiding in busyness. Stop hiding in laziness. Stop hiding in your hobbies or wish-dreams. Stop hiding in your TV shows and your fantasies. Stop hiding under the guise of neutrality and peace-keeping. Stop hiding.
When you have finally and truly pulled back the curtains to the dark corners of your heart; when you have finally confessed Jesus is Lord without holding anything back, not your wife or kids, not your job or your wealth, not your security or your sins, it is at that moment that Gospel overflow is possible. It is at that moment, when every crack and hole in your empty heart become mended and finally you can experience life and life to the full and life that overflows. This is what Taylor needs. This is what your spouse and your family needs. This is what the people in the chairs next to you need. We need this like we need food.
This is what Jesus has saved us to. He did not come to fix you so you could finally and truly be independent, so you could finally stand on your own two feet. He did not come to make you an island. He came to call you back. To reconnect you. To reconcile you. To reconcile you to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but not just you, them too, and me too.
He came to adopt us as children and that means bringing us all into one, single family. He reconciles us to one another as He reconciles us to Himself. And even beyond that, He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. What does that mean? What does that look like for you personally at this stage in your life? I will tell you.
This means that He has loved you so much that you can’t keep it all to yourself. He has forgiven you such that you cannot help but forgive others. He came and found you, a lost sinner, while you were not looking for Him which naturally drives you to want to do the same. He leads you and teaches you to become more and more like Him which ignites a desire in you to lead and teach others to do likewise. This is life overflowing. This is being a Christian. This is your call—your mission no matter who you are or where you are.
Perhaps you are hearing me and you are not a Christian. If that is so, the table that we are about to come to is not for you. However, just because you are not a Christian doesn’t mean you have to stay not a Christian. If God even now is pricking your heart to change your mind, then by all means, change your mind. Repent and believe. Become a Christian and with the rest of your brothers and sisters, come to Jesus Christ—come to this table.
Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.