Not Getting It

If you watch just about anything out of Hollywood that includes almost anything with a Christian presence, you will likely note that it is almost always wrong -- just plain wrong. It's not a Hollywood problem, though.

My grandfather heard the Gospel from my family for as long as I lived and he lived. When he would visit, he might go to church or a Billy Graham event or read things like Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict (both volumes) and the like along with constant conversations with his believing daughter (my mom) and family. One day when I was in my 50's and he was visiting, we were sitting around the table discussing, you guessed it, the Gospel. I don't remember what was said, but he suddenly blurted out, "Wait a minute! Are you saying that all you have to do to be saved is to believe??! That's it??" The discussion, of course, continued, but I was stunned. All that input over all those years and he never got it. Not once. Decades of truth and he never heard it.

What's the malfunction? Why don't Hollywood, my grandfather, or the millions of everyday folk who hear it get it? Why the grand disconnect?

If you think about it, it isn't really a surprise. The real question might be "Why do I get it?" I'm not smarter, wiser, more "in tune," more spiritual. In fact, according to Scripture, although it is patently present and true and reasonable, we miss it. It's not a failure of logic or facts or evidence. It's that it is not human, so to speak. Jesus said, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) That is, without this alteration, "born again," we lack the ability to connect with "the kingdom of God." We don't have the right eyes or ears or senses. Paul says we are "dead in sin" (Eph 2:1). Jesus said, "People love the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds are evil." (John 3:19) Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." (John 6:65) Paul wrote, "The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God." (Rom 8:7) All this to say that we cannot "see" it. We cannot connect with it. It runs counter to our sin nature and we are not going to understand it unless it is granted -- unless we are born again.

Sometimes when we share the Gospel we think that if we provide sufficient data points, enough reasoning, adequate logic, irrefutable evidence -- all that -- then we can win them over. It doesn't work that way. That is, that approach does not take into account the human problem -- "dead in sin." And I'm sure you've seen this sort of problem elsewhere. You know. You try to explain to someone why your political view or moral view is correct and all you get is stonewalling. It all makes sense to you, but they're just not getting it. Why? Because there are other things in the way that simple logic and evidence don't penetrate. Because when you bring up Christ -- and the world hates Christ (John 15:18-19) -- you're not going to get through that hate to provide your logic.

It sounds difficult, but the fact that some do get it tells us something critical. We're not in this alone. We're not smarter or better, but we do have the Holy Spirit at work. We do have Jesus to give. God opens hearts to respond (Acts 16:14). So while it is wise to give the best arguments, the best evidence, the best testimony, the truest information, and even the best delivery you can, in the end it is God who is at work, and "He does whatever He pleases." (Psa 115:3)