Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Father, we thank you for this day. We celebrate
it as a gift from you. We ask that you open our
hearts and our minds to everything that you have
to speak to us today, and that you place your
healing hands over our loved ones who aren't
with us and those who are hurting out in our
community. In Jesus' name. Man, short and sweet,
right? Because I'm already long -winded. Move
this thing back. I didn't have to agree so fast.
My goodness, where's the love? No, facts are
facts, right? So again, welcome to our sanctuary.
And welcome to those of you who are joining us
online. Today we're going to talk about something
I've touched on before, but I've touched on it
very briefly. Matter of fact, I end up having
conversations with people. about this very topic
a couple times a year. And it kind of struck
me because the other day I briefly touched on
this and then I ended up having a conversation
with somebody the very next day. We'll get to
what it is here in just a second. But I have
to tell you, this is something that some people
tend to get a little fired up over. Some people
get really hurt over it as well. Some people,
they get the first piece that we're going to
go over here in a moment, and they get very gung
-ho. And unfortunately, sometimes it kind of
burns them. They get a little blowback on it.
And what we're talking about here is how we talk
to others about their salvation, specifically
when we're talking to a non -believer, which
is going to bring us to the first thing that
we're going to talk about, the Romans wrote.
Also referred to quite commonly as Salvation's
Freeway, or sometimes Salvation Highway, right?
Those are the most common names. Romans Road
and Christianese, that's the name that we really
have for it, though, most places, at least here
in the western part of the world, right? You
go back to the eastern side and other areas,
you're going to hear Salvation's Freeway a little
bit more often. As we get started here, I said,
we're going to take a look at this real quick.
It's a tool, though. It is a tool and it's often
employed, but it's employed without a proper
understanding of what it actually is. So we're
going to go ahead and we're going to open our
Bibles as we get into it. So let's go ahead and
open our Bibles with a Bible app. And we're going
to go to Romans chapter three to start specifically
verse 23. So Romans three, verse 23. And while
everybody's turning there, you know, it's kind
of interesting. Because for many of you, you
might actually have a section dedicated like
in the back of your Bible to this specific thing.
If you have one of the Gideon New Testaments,
usually if you open up the cover, normally it's
in like the back of the cover, they have this
very thing right there. Right? And it is a great
tool. So a lot of us have probably seen it and
just kind of skimmed right past it too. But in
Romans 3 .23, the word says, for all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God. In short,
we've all sinned, we've all messed up. Doesn't
matter how big or how small the sin is, we've
all sinned, and sin is what separates us from
the Father. Pretty basic, right? We've all fallen
short, we've all sinned, and we've all been separated
from God. Next up on the hit list, Romans 6 .23.
You know, in my head, I had myself sounding like
Casey Kasem, and I hear it out loud, and I didn't
sound like Casey at all, did I? Some of you might
not understand that remark. That's okay. He's
been dead a while. Romans 6, verse 23, the word
says, For the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord. So there's two pieces here. The punishment
of sin, no matter how big or how small, that's
death. Right? What is that? Eternal separation
from the Father. Condemnation to hell. Hell's
not a nice place to be. I don't care what ACDC
says. Your sin leads to your death and your separation
for eternity. However, through Jesus Christ,
you can be reunited with the Father for eternity.
Your sin forgiven. For eternity. It's a free
gift from God. Free. Nobody can buy it. Nobody
can earn it. Plain and simple. It's a gift for
you. You just have to choose to accept it. We
turn back just slightly into chapter 5, verse
8. So Romans 5, verse 8. Where it says, but God
demonstrates his own love towards us. And that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us. God loves you. God loves you. He loves you
so much that he sent his son. He sent Jesus Christ
to take on the cross and die for your sin. To
take the punishment that you and I deserved.
That we still deserve. He loves you that much,
though, that he made the ultimate sacrifice for
you. And then the final stop, Romans 10, verses
8 through 10. But what does it say? The word
is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
That is the word of faith which we preach. That
if you confess with your mouth that the Lord
Jesus, Meaning this is how you accept the gift.
This is how you show you want it. You confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, that you believe he
died for your sin and was raised again on the
third day. For you. You repent of your sin and
you accept him as your Lord and Savior. You repent
of your sin and you testify Jesus Christ is your
Lord and Savior. Now, that's the tool. And the
belief amongst way too many people is, boom,
that's it. People are converted as soon as they've
seen that. That's enough. That's it. People actually
believe that's enough to convert someone who
knows absolutely nothing about Jesus over to
Christianity. Why is it that people are so quick
and so easy to believe this, though? Because
they want the easiest, quickest way to talk to
somebody and then be done. And it's simple. Quick
and easy. Easy peasy, live and squeezy, right?
Boom, out the door. It's like, hallelujah, they're
saved. See you, church. Does it work? Yes and
no. It delivers information to the nonbeliever,
right? It is the gospel in a nutshell, summed
up all quick. But is that enough to convert somebody
in a very, very short period of time? The answer
to that is typically no. It's enough to introduce
them and that's really about it. A lot of times
you get a lot of lip service. Saying, yeah, yeah,
yeah, I believe, sure, sure. You think? You know,
and unfortunately, when that happens, sometimes
people do get the, I think, I don't know, I think
I need more information, I need more time. These
are answers people get. A friend of ours got
an answer like that not that long ago. It upset
him quite a bit. People get answers like this
way more often than they'd want to admit to.
There are pastors, pastors out there, in fact,
some I've even served under, who will say, no,
this is all you need. And they will never admit
to the fact that there have been some people
that they haven't been able to win over for Christ.
using the Romans road, they will never admit
it. They're lying to themselves. They're lying
to everybody else when they deny that. They get
frustrated. People get very, very frustrated.
And when you ask one of these pastors, well,
what's up with that? Well, they're quick to point
the finger. They will say, it's typically one
of two things. Either you didn't present it properly,
or... Maybe you presented it properly, maybe
you didn't, but you don't have enough faith.
And that's why they didn't believe, because they
didn't find your faith. Not actually the case,
though, is it? You can have all the faith in
the world, and we all know the phrase, you can
lead a horse to water, but you can't make him
drink, right? What did you do? You led the horse
to water. It's up to them to choose if they want
the eternal water or not. They want the water
of life or not. You know, there's another way
I can summarize this. I can stand up here. I
can give you all the stats and all the facts
showing that Lotter Burger is the most overrated
burger in this city. It is actually the worst
burger you can get. Right? And there will still
be people in this room lined up at that window
to get their Lotter Burger tomorrow. Whether
it's a burger or whatever. Right? Because like
I say, here's all the facts. Matter of fact,
I could sit here. I was already poking fun at
him this morning. I give you all the stats on
why the Dallas Cowboys are the worst football
team in the last 30 years. And you're still going
to come in wearing that jacket for shame. Shame
on you. Just kidding. Your team is your team.
You pick it. It's not up to me, right? We all
know that there's far better teams, like all
of them. And we know that there's much better
burgers, Twisters, for example. You know, I'd
be more than happy to go to County Line and sit
down and just, you know, get some ribs on the
side. It's part of why I got so fat. But still,
you know, I think that drives the point home.
You know, the fact of the matter is, this is
a tool. It's a tool. That's all it is. That's
all it was meant to be, is a tool. Is it an end
-all, be -all? No. There is absolutely nothing
in here. You will find nothing in the Bible that
says, hey, if you take someone down the Romans
road, guaranteed they're going to convert to
Christianity. They're going to believe. There's
nothing there that guarantees that. And to believe
otherwise is just downright silly. Because the
word actually tells us that there's people who
no matter what, they just won't believe. Plain
and simple. What it is, though, it is a tool
to introduce people to the gospel, to introduce
people to Jesus. That's all it is. It's an introductory
tool. Does every tool do every job? No. I could
pull out a Leatherman. Is a Leatherman a hammer?
No. Do we eat cereal with a fork and spaghetti
with a spoon? No. I'd just be silly, right? And
maybe if you have some Froot Loops or some Cheerios
or something, but I mean, come on. Let's be real.
You're going to have some Cap 'n Crunch or, you
know, some Cinnamon Toast Crunch or something.
You want a nice big spoon and a nice big bowl
and just go to it. You know? We don't use a wrench
in place of a measuring tape. We don't use a
wheelbarrow in place of a truck. I want to see
the video on that, buddy. What was left of the
truck afterwards? We don't plant a seed and immediately
have a tree, though, do we? We don't use the
rain as the only option to water our crops. No.
In fact, It is our duty to introduce people to
Jesus, not to force him on anybody, not to chastise
them because of the way that they've lived their
life up until now or what they've known of religion
at this point, right? Let's face it, usually
that's what it is, it's religion. Instead, it's
the work of the Holy Ghost that changes them.
We make the introduction, we make the handoff.
It's like, friend, this is Jesus. Jesus is my
friend. Let me go find another and bring him
in. You plant the seed. It takes time, love,
and care, and a whole lot of patience before
that seed turns into an oak. So our task, we
like to say the Great Commission, right? Well,
Christianese, let's break it down Barney style.
What does it mean? Leave no one behind. We do
our best. Some people aren't willing to be spoken
to. We pray for them. But the ones that we speak
to, those are the ones that we're able to, that's
what we're talking about today. So instead of
the Roman's road, which is a tool, it is a great
tool, don't get me wrong. For some people, it's
enough. It's enough because it gets them thinking.
And it leads them to Jesus. Great. But the Bible
actually gives us another way. And some of us
don't always recognize it for what it is. And
personally, I believe there's a better example
set here than there is in the Romans road because
it goes into the personal touch. As opposed to
just, do you believe? Sign your name here. I'll
see you at church. Right? Matter of fact, it's
a better way to introduce people to Jesus. It's
a better way. to conduct ourselves when we interact
with people and we talk to them about Jesus,
it is a better way to conduct a rescue mission.
Because when we look at the Great Commission,
when we look at how we talk to people about their
salvation, what is it? It is a rescue mission.
It is the greatest rescue mission ever undertaken
with God at the top. And that rescue mission,
plain and simple, you leave no man behind. You
leave no one behind. We're in there to get everybody.
But the thing that we have to remember, People
look at the Roman's road and they look at it
as a quick fix. Sometimes down and dirty is the
way to get. Sometimes you only have a few seconds.
Okay, cool. That tool doesn't work for everything.
Sometimes you have to slow down. We have to remember
slow is smooth and smooth is fast. We have to
be deliberate. We have to be consistent. We have
to take our time. As my grandfather would say,
nothing's so important you can't take the time
to do it right. The same thing pertains here.
With that said, let's turn to John chapter 4.
John chapter 4. You're going to love this because
we're going to be looking at the woman at the
well. So John 4 verses 1 through 14. And the
word says, therefore, When the Lord knew that
the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized
more disciples than John, though Jesus himself
did not baptize but his disciples, he left Judea
and departed again to Galilee. But he needed
to go through Samaria. So he came to a city of
Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore,
being wearied from his journey, sat thus by the
well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of
Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her,
Give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away
into the city to buy food. When the woman of
Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being
a Jew, asked for a drink from me, a Samaritan
woman, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans?
Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the
gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give
me a drink, you would have asked him, and he
would have given you living water. The woman
said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with,
and the well is deep. Where then do you get that
living water? Are you greater than our father
Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it
himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?
Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks
of this water will thirst again. But whoever
drinks of the water that I shall give him will
never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him will become in him a fountain, of water springing
up into everlasting life. Again, this is the
story of the woman at the well. Jesus is offering
one of the greatest examples of how to create
a disciple. It's simple, but powerful. Why is
that? Because disciple, true discipleship, isn't
just pulling out a couple verses. It is relationship.
It is patience and it is love. Some take longer
than others. But it's meeting people where they
are. Not where you want them to be. Not dressed
the way you want them to be. Not in the job you
want them to have or anything like that. You
meet them where they are. On their path. Not
your path. Their path. Jesus was always mindful.
He knew who he was talking to. He knew where
they were. And in this encounter, he expertly
demonstrates how we should go about never leaving
a man or woman behind. When he meets this woman,
he doesn't approach her with a theological lecture.
He's not pulling out scrolls of scripture. He's
not giving her a list of commands to follow.
We see that one too, right? Oh, the Bible says
this, and if you don't do this, you're going
to hell. Right? He's not doing that. He's not
giving her a pathway that has to be adhered to
in a specific way. When the dog howls at midnight
and the crow, you know, whatever, during the
blood moon and this, that, and the other. It's
not legalistic as we tend to be. The way the
Roman's road often is implemented. Way too often,
when people turn the Roman's road, they've turned
it into this legalistic thing. It's like you
go through it, and if you don't believe, what
is wrong with you? Aren't you afraid of going
to hell? Right? It's not the way it's intended
to be used. It's not the way it should be. And
it's not the way we create disciples. It's not
the way we bring people to Christ. Instead, Jesus
meets her where she's at. He meets her with love
and grace. And most importantly, a genuine connection.
He talks to her. He talks to her. Plain and simple,
he struck up a conversation. You go out and you
sit down with somebody and you strike up a conversation.
You talk for a few minutes. How much more likely
do you think that that person is going to be
when you bring up the subject of Jesus to actually
listen to what you have to say? A whole lot more,
huh? Matter of fact, that's how I met Dale. We
were right up the road at the post here one day.
We struck up a conversation. And then the conversation
turned into, where do you go to church? I'm a
pastor. You should come and check us out sometime.
Now we see him all the time, right? Got another
brother in the house. He's not here today. That's
okay. He'll be here again. We know that. He's
still at home recovering nicely. But that's how
you do it. You strike up a conversation. You
talk to somebody. And then it leads to other
things. It leads to friendships, relationships,
family, extended family, right? People you know
you can trust, people you can lean on, people
you can go to advice. Hopefully people that love
you enough that are going to tell you when you're
messing up that you need to pull your head out
of your fourth point of contact. Right? That's
a nice way of saying it. You can use that. It's
not mine. I got that from the government. But
that's what relationship is. That's what love
is. This is where trust begins in a simple conversation.
Hi, how you doing? Where are you from? Fortunately,
this is one of those places where the military
members have a really easy time striking up that
conversation because as soon as you know somebody
else served, really, what branch did you serve?
When did you serve? What was your MOS? Maybe
what was your rank, right? But instant connection,
boom. Because just finding out somebody else
has served tells you a whole lot about them if
you've served. Even if you haven't served, it
still tells you a lot about them, doesn't it?
You have to find that connection, though. It's
not that hard. But you can't be afraid. You have
to actually open your mouth and talk to people.
I don't care if there's a ballgame on TV. You
use that. Well, how about that weather? Right?
You've all heard that. That one's been around
longer than any of us have been alive. Yes, longer
than you. When it comes to conversation, conversation
is what builds trust. Because without that trust,
no one's going to listen to what you have to
say about Jesus because that's way too heavy
of a topic. Way too heavy. Why should they trust
you to talk about Jesus if they don't even know
you? They don't know anything about you, so they
don't know if they can trust you or not. They
don't know if you're coming at them like a lawyer
or a politician. Nobody in here really cares
to talk to either of them. Because our blood
starts boiling, doesn't it? I don't care which
side you sit on, your blood starts boiling when
you start talking about certain things. Instead,
you establish trust by establishing a relationship,
even if it's a new relationship. Because it's
through that bond, that connection, that true...
Spiritual growth begins. That's where the bond
comes in, and that's why trust is important,
because this is about spiritual growth. You're
talking to somebody who's about to be born again,
hopefully. We like to say baby Christian, right?
Because they are. They're a baby. They're a baby
in Christ. They're nowhere near as far along
the path as you are. The key in learning about
this, the key learning moment, is how we're leading
people to the cross. how we're leading people
to Jesus. Because before we can truly partner
with the Holy Spirit and empower somebody's growth,
we have to learn how to earn that person's trust.
We have to get that buy -in from them. That's
really what it is. They have to buy into it.
Because without that, we're talking on deaf ears.
You might as well be talking to the wall or your
imaginary pet bunny, Harvey. That's really all
it is. And trust is not something you can demand.
Right? Respect. Really? Demand it all you want.
The fact you had to demand it says something's
wrong here. Right? You can't demand it. And it's
not something you can expect to immediately get
from somebody either. Now, somebody may be respectful
out the gate, sure. But to have their trust?
No, no, no. Some people's lives have been so
hard and filled with so much pain, that is the
last thing that they're willing to give to anybody.
Has anybody been following the news lately with
this whole punch the monkey thing? Over in Japan,
a little baby monkey, its name is Punch. Yeah,
first time I heard punch the monkey, I'm like,
who's punching the monkey? What's going on? No!
It's a little baby monkey. No, its name is Punch.
This baby monkey was abandoned by its mother
not long after it was born. Just push to the
side. The rest of the, I forget what they call
it, but there's the pack or whatever. They were
shunning him away. Little baby monkey. It's only
a couple months old. Ikea stepped in. They took
a stuffed animal orangutan. They gave it to this
little monkey. He's used it for a surrogate mom.
He's slowly but surely been learning the rules.
The first monkey that took him in and showed
him any kindness. was an older monkey who knew
the same, well, not the same kind, but understood
the pain that he was going through and the hardship
he was going through because he was raised and
abused as a circus monkey. I forget that one's
name. That was the first monkey to actually take
him in and start teaching him the things that
he needed to learn so that the other monkeys
wouldn't keep abusing him and wouldn't keep bullying
him. And here's the thing, though. This is a
young monkey. That is hardship. We're looking
at another animal, right? Another species. But
it still sets the precedent because those other
monkeys would come through and they bullied him
so much. They were so mean to him. They would
push him. They would throw him. They would try
to take his surrogate mother away from him. To
the fact that one of the first things that little
Punch learned how to do was defend his surrogate
mother. His mother might have abandoned him,
but he was not going to abandon his surrogate.
That was the first time he would actually stand
up to anybody. Like, no, you're not getting her.
Get away. He loved his surrogate so much because
that was the one place of comfort that he had.
Secondly, anytime any of the other monkeys would
come over, now that they're starting to warm
up to him, right? They start to extend that paw,
maybe to groom him or something. He's been so
traumatized. They reached that paw out and he
was in fear. He thought he was going to be attacked
or bullied again. People are no different. So
much bad has happened to them. Those walls have
come up. And somebody reaching out in kindness,
seeing his pain. They don't know it's coming.
So they're keeping you at bay. So we just expect
people to give us trust right away. It's not
going to happen. Because that's not what their
life has taught them. Their life has taught them
pain, suffering, hate, and discontent, sorrow.
And unfortunately, we as a church, we fall into
that same thing. It's like, hey, aren't you afraid
of this? You're going to go to hell. And we start
slamming them. We're not showing them love. We're
not showing them compassion. We forget Jesus
went and ate with the sinners, the tax collectors
and everybody, right? To show them the way. He
went to show them kindness. Not to go in there
and be like, you're going to hell. I flipped
tables for lesser. evil person, son of a gun,
right? No, it's not what he did. It's not how
he treated people. He went in, he sat down, he
shared a meal, spoke to him in love. He said,
hey, guess what? These are the facts. Let me
lay them out for you. You choose for yourself.
That's the way, that's the example we should
be following. But where does it start? It starts
with relationship. You have to build that trust.
The simple act of kindness can feel very unsafe
to others. We've seen it with the monkey. We're
honest with ourselves. We've seen it with people.
Matter of fact, some of us in this room have
probably experienced that ourselves. Anybody
ever felt like the fifth wheel in the room? Had
comments made because of your race, your gender?
Maybe your physical condition. There's a lot
of hateful things out there. What happens? We
build up walls. So when somebody does come along,
we're going to trust them right out the gate.
It takes a lot. It takes a lot on their part
and it takes a lot on our part. Because people
have to relearn that not every hand that's reaching
out is pain. And until you learn that, you're
not going to trust people. And we have to remember,
we're trying to be kind. We're reaching out in
love. Not everybody's going to see it that way.
Some people are going to be looking, others should
have dropped. Like, what's this person really
after? What's their agenda? How is this going
to hurt me this time? It takes time. Return.
Flip back just a little bit here, still in John
4, verses 21 through 24. So John 4, 21 through
24, the word says, Jesus said to her, well, I
should just say Jesus said, Jesus said, woman,
believe me, the hour is coming when you will
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship
the Father. You worship what you do not know.
We know what we worship for salvation is of the
Jews, but the hour is coming. And now is when
the true worshipers will worship the father in
spirit and truth. For the father is seeking such
to worship him. God is spirit. And those who
worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
It's like, it's not just the God of the Jews.
He's the God of all. He loves all. Which brings
us to the problem that we typically have. It's
the problem of do as I say, not do as I do. We've
all heard this. We've all worked with people
like this. As a matter of fact, some of us have
probably said this a time or two ourselves. Right?
It's that attitude. Do as I say, not as I do.
And the problem is it rarely works. It's a bad
habit. We're teaching bad habits. You know, and
sometimes it's not even those exact words. It's
like, hey, we're not really supposed to do this,
so just kind of turn your eye for a second. You
didn't see this. Or, hey, I'm going to do this
to save us some time. You really shouldn't do
it, but we're falling behind and we need to catch
up. So, yeah, right? Little things like that,
but it's still the same thing. Do as I say, not
do as I do. You know, there's a certain hypocrisy
that falls in along those lines. And when it
happens, especially when you're the one who's
getting told this, it leaves that funny feeling,
doesn't it? Like, ah, something's not right here.
I don't know if this was the best choice. Is
this the best way to do it? Is this the best
thing that we could have done? And the point
is, we have to ensure that all of our actions
actually align with the life that we're living,
that all of our words align with the things that
we are doing, that we're living a life that we're
preaching, not preaching one life and living
another. Right? I cannot stand up here and say,
drugs are bad, and then go home and start, you
know, doing crack. You know, doing meth. I cannot
sit here and tell you, hey, drunkenness is a
sin, and then go home and get plastered every
night. None of us can do that to other people
either. Like, hey, what you're doing is bad.
It's okay for me to do it, but not for you. Right?
That's the life that we should be living. And
we can't expect others to follow us or to trust
us if they're not seeing us living out what we're
telling them. We have to live in a way that reflects
the same thing that we're teaching. Because that's
how we are in trust or we break trust. That is
our make or break it. Are they able to see in
you that you are genuine? Jesus demonstrated
integrity and love through his actions. And it's
the same example that we need to live by. The
Great Commission tells us to teach. Go into the
world and tell them all. Right? Cliff notes,
of course. It's not exactly how it says it. But
teaching isn't about issuing demands. It's not
about issuing ultimatums. It's not giving orders.
It's building a trusting relationship with somebody.
A trusting relationship. A trusting relationship
in which spiritual growth It can happen naturally.
You don't want to force it along. You don't want
to pump steroids into it. You don't want to do
any of this other stuff. You want a natural spiritual
growth. And for some, spiritual growth happens
a lot easier than for others. For some, it goes
in spurts. For some, it's just steady along the
way. It's different from everybody. But you won't
lead anybody to Jesus while you're bashing them,
while you're bashing their life, what they've
known of whatever religion it is or not that
they follow, whether atheist, a Buddhist, a Taoist,
you know, Muslim, whatever. Maybe even a denomination
that you don't agree with. That's a battle fought
between Protestants and Catholics a lot. You
can't get someone to listen to you if you're
busy bashing them. It's kind of like politics.
I walk in the room and I got somebody over here
and I know they're a Democrat and the first thing
they hear out of my mouth is I'm calling them
a libtard. You think they're going to listen
to me? Right? Or same thing, I come in and I
got my friend over here who's a Republican and
I'm like, ah, maggot. Think they're going to
listen to me? Mm -mm. That's how everybody wants
to talk to each other about politicians and politics.
They charge you at each other. Like a couple
of nights jousting, may the better night win.
That's how it's taught. That's how it's treated.
It's not the way it's supposed to be. There's
no love. There's no patience. There's no kindness.
You have to set the example. We've all heard
the term, if you can't find someone nice in the
world, be nice. Sometimes that's hard. But be
the example. For example, I walk into the post.
Usually it's Jean who's working the bar, and
she knows as soon as she sees me. A couple of
root beers, just the cans. No cup, no ice, nothing.
Just a couple of A &Ws, and I'm good to go. Well,
it was a couple weeks ago they had mug. That
was nice, too. That's a nice change of pace.
I like my root beer. But they know. And other
people are like, really? That's what you're drinking?
I don't even have to say anything anymore. My
friends there will stick up for me right away.
Even the bartender. That's our chaplain. He's
also a pastor at a church down the road. Hmm.
They know me. They trust me. They will come to
me with things. They will message me. Earlier
I said pray for Frank and his family. He doesn't
come here. He's at the post. Fellow vet. But
that's what it is. It's that relationship. I
go in there. They know I'm not drinking. Other
than hard root beer. I'm indulging on hard sugars.
Not rum. Yes, that's right. Every so often, Brian
goes and joins me, too. Well, I'm not going to
say all, but I think he joined me on a root beer
once, and it's only because you're out of that
nasty Pepsi stuff. I failed the Pepsi challenge.
I'm more of a Coke guy. It's okay. I like ribbon
on him. We all know this. That's what family's
for, sometimes. But that's the thing. People...
They've gotten to know me there, so they open
up to me. People know. It wasn't that long ago.
I was in there. I was taking pictures for the
post -Facebook page. We had a live band and everything.
And the guy over there, he sees me. And what
does he do? He's not in the frame or anything.
I'm all the way over here, but he still sees
me, and he flips me the finger. No, not that
one. That one. Right? And I just say, okay, whatever.
I ignored him. I don't know him. He's out there
dancing with this lady. I'm not going to interrupt.
A few minutes later, we're sitting there, because
it's our veterans night, we were sitting there,
and he comes over and he apologizes, right? He
apologizes like, I'm sorry, I didn't know who
you were. My friends over here just told me who
you are. I'm so sorry, Pastor. It's okay, I forgive.
It's not a big deal. It's the way it should be,
though. You have to build relationships. You
have to build rapport. You have to build trust.
Turning to Galatians chapter 5, verses 25 through
26. Galatians 5, 25 through 26. The word says,
if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in
the spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking
one another, envying one another. As we go about
making disciples, it's paramount that we remember
we're not called to make exceptions. We aren't
to leave anyone. We are to try to reach everybody.
There's no ifs, there's no ands, and there's
no buts. You have to make the attempt. Are you
going to get everybody? No. But you're supposed
to try. And for those people who are especially
hardened or don't care what you had to say or
just plain don't want to listen to what you had
to say, pray for them. That's the best thing
that you can do is pray for them. Everyone needs
to be saved, right? John 3 .16 says what? I also
love the world that he says, only begotten son.
That's right. There's no ifs in there. There's
no ifs in there. There's no ands and there's
no buts. God loved the world so much that he
sent his only begotten son. The world. The Jews.
Not the Gentiles. Not this group. Not that group.
The world. He loves everybody. So he made the
attempt. He set the example for us all. And it
doesn't matter. if somebody's in the highest
office in the land, or they're living in a royal
down the road here. Everybody deserves to hear
about the love of Jesus Christ and to be introduced
to him. Every single person. It's not enough
that you have good intentions. It's not enough
that you're like, oh, I'll pray for you. We see
that a lot, especially on social media. Oh, sending
prayers and good vibes. What are your vibes?
No, get out of here with that stuff. You're going
to pray? Come pray. Let's pray. Let's do it.
Plain and simple. Let's pray. You have to have
more than good intention. You have to have action.
You have to move on it. It's not just talking
the talk. You have to walk the walk. You have
to show your commitment. Every day. You have
to show your faith every day. That trust in Jesus.
Every single day. You have to show that you're
willing to walk with others. Let's face it. Sometimes
there's times when people, someone wants to come
and talk to you. Are you in the mood? No. You
kind of want to be left alone? It happens. That
happens to us all. But you know what? They're
coming to you. Sit down, shut up, and listen.
That is an act of kindness. That is an act of
love. And later on, when you think back on it,
you're like, you know what? I'm glad I did that.
I'm glad I shut my mouth. I'm glad I listened
to that person. Maybe you were able to offer
them some kind of advice even. Maybe the Holy
Spirit put something on your heart that you're
able to share. Who knows? But it never would
have happened if you just walked away and be
like, you know what? I don't have time for this
right now. Make time. Make time. It speaks volumes
about you. It speaks volumes about your character.
It speaks volumes about your relationship with
Jesus. This is especially important when you're
talking to somebody who's new in their walk with
Christ. Going back to our baby Christians, right?
One of the biggest failures we have as a church
is that once somebody steps out and makes a profession
of faith, all of a sudden, We look at them like
they suddenly know everything that's in the Bible.
We laugh, but it's true, right? It's kind of
a nervous laugh I'm hearing over there. Because
it's true. That is our biggest failure as the
church. We get somebody there. Oh, they made
their profession of faith. They're getting baptized.
Great. Moving on. And then we speak to them in
Christianese. Talk about things like the Great
Commission. And then we ridicule them when they
come up and ask, what is that? Really? You don't
know? I thought you were a Christian, dude. Right?
That's how we treat people. In our own house.
In God's house. It's not the way we should. Like,
you know what? That's okay. Let me tell you about
the Great Commission. Matter of fact, do you
have your Bible with you? Let's open it up. I
can show you where it is too so you can study
it. That's what we should be doing. Not just
telling them, but showing them. Showing them.
Explaining it. Answering questions. That's trust.
That's relationship. Because now they're seeing,
okay, hey, there's concrete evidence here. And
so the growth starts to happen. You think martial
arts might be a bad example for some people,
but I'm going to use it anyway. I know Darren
for sure and Brian will know for sure what I'm
talking about. You get someone brand new or even
maybe you get someone who's been away for a really
long time and they're just now coming back in,
right? Is the right thing to do to take them
out on the mat and just beat the snot out of
them right away? Like, hey, why aren't you blocking?
Why aren't you striking? Why aren't you parrying?
No, that's not the right answer. Even for somebody
who's had some formal training, but they've been
gone for a while. If you don't use it, you lose
it. I'll tell you that. You don't use it, you
lose it. You forget things, right? You don't
move the way you used to. So that muscle memory's
faded. If you're brand new, you don't have it
at all. Instead, you go out and you teach them.
Because the first thing we had to do, And the
same thing is when we bring somebody and we introduce
them to Jesus, we have to recognize the fact
that they have the fortitude to step out of their
comfort zone to begin with. And we have to see
that that is a victory for them. We should be
celebrating that victory for them. But we forget
to. But that can be a huge thing for some people.
For some people, just getting out of the house
is big. For some people, depending on what they're
going through, getting out of bed is a big deal.
So the fact that they're willing to go into this
uncomfortable environment with people that they
don't know and say, teach me. That is a tremendous
victory. We need to celebrate it with them. We
need to congratulate them. And then we need to
go into the basics. Like the prodigal who returned.
They've gone for a while, they came back. Maybe
they're brand new, so they're just learning from
scratch. But you know what? You still go back
to the basics. This is a punch, right? Or this
is how you punch. This is a jab. This is a hook.
This is an uppercut. This is the Bible. This
is what Jesus did for you. This is the gospel.
The basics. This is the most important part that
you need to know. Everything else builds upon
that. This is the foundation of our faith. This
is why we believe what we believe. This is the
evidence to back it up. We work on their form.
We work on their understanding. We build them
up. We build them up, right? Skyscrapers didn't
start as a skyscraper. They started with a foundation
and were built up. We do the same thing. Somebody
who's new to Christ or new to Christianity, we
build them up. And we have to understand, everybody
is at a different place. They're at a different
level. They have a different level of understanding.
Some people will catch on faster than you. Some
people will be much slower than you. We have
to meet them where they are and walk with them.
We don't leave them behind. We don't leave anybody
behind. That's discipleship broken down in its
simplest form. Last verse of the day. 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 11. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 11. The
word says, therefore, comfort each other and
edify one another, just as you also are doing.
You have to humble yourself. Sometimes our pride
builds up a little bit. Our egos build up a little
much. We need to humble ourselves. We need to
break ourselves down. We need to remember we
didn't start with it all pulled together. Matter
of fact, if we're honest with ourselves, we're
still learning. We're still growing ourselves.
There's not anybody in here who knows it all.
There's people in here who know things I don't.
There's three things I know that other people
don't. Plain and simple. That's just the way
it works. So humble yourself and understand that
everybody is on a unique journey. And those journeys,
those paths, they're not always going to look
the same. They're not always going to be like
yours. As a matter of fact, some of them will
diverge greatly. Maybe your paths are only going
to be conjoined for a small period of time and
you're going to break off again. Who knows? Maybe
you're going to be on that path together for
a long, long time. And they're doing this number,
right? A couple train tracks running semi -parallel
to each other. It happens. We never know. And
we can't assume that anyone is willing to take
a leap of faith without first learning to take
a few steps up to the edge of that diving board.
Most everybody in here knows how to swim. A couple
people. You sink, yeah? So does she. But for
the rest of us, let's think about swimming for
a second. The first time you got up to that diving
board, did you just run and jump off of that
thing? No. Some of us, as a matter of fact, it
took us a minute just to be able to walk to the
end of that diving board. And we were doing okay
until we looked down and all of a sudden we saw
the bottom of that pool like, oh no. We had that
diving instructor or that friend or that relative,
come on, I got you, I got you, just jump, just
jump, right? And that's how we're treating people.
Take that leap of faith, come on, I got you,
just jump, just jump, I got you, let's do this,
right? Some people have to learn to walk before
they learn to jump. For some of us, we did okay
on that first diving board, but then we got to
the high dive and we froze. But I'll tell you
what, when we finally built up to that place
where we were running down that thing, like Bolt,
who's the sprinter? Usain Bolt? There we go.
We go running down that thing like him, like
the Flash. Maybe do a back flip or a somersault
or something. Not that thing. It took time. It
took work. Sometimes you have to learn to walk
and get to the edge of that board before you're
willing to take that leap. And when it comes
to our faith, it is no different. We have to
let people walk. Let them take the small steps
to get where they need to be. And we give them
the time. We give them the resources. We give
them the encouragement. Bless you. We give them
the encouragement. We love on them just as Jesus
loved on us. Right? Did Jesus demand that overnight
we just boom and we're following him? No. He
gave us the resources. He gave us the love. He
gave us the time. He gave us the patience. And
in doing things like this, You'll find the tools
that we've been given, things like the Romans
Road, things like your own testimony, probably
the most important tool that you've been given
because each and every single one of us has a
testimony. But these tools will work when they're
used properly and with proper understanding.
They'll lead people to Christ, but you can't
rush them and you can't force them. You can't
press in hard on them. Instead, you lead with
love, compassion, and patience. And don't ever
forget your testimony. Because we all came from
somewhere. We were all somewhere hurting when
Jesus found us. Whether it was somebody taking
us to a place where we could be found by him
or he found us all alone sitting in a corner.
And we can take that testimony and we can use
that as a guide because we've seen how it's worked
in our lives. And we can use that to teach and
lead others. Discipleship is a journey. And it's
a journey that's meant to be shared together.
It's a gift. Gifts are meant to be shared. It's
not a destination to reach and then part ways
once you're done with it. So build those relationships.
Celebrate. each other's victories. And don't
let anybody stay in a position where they can
fall prey to the enemy. The 99 are safer together.
That's why Jesus left the 99 to find the one,
because the one was the one who was in danger.
The 99 can work together. We support Jesus. Right
here. By supporting each other. By having that
relationship with each other. By building that
trust with each other. And then doing the same
when we go out that door and we're in the world.
Just because one tool doesn't work at that moment
doesn't mean it's necessarily broken. Maybe you
just need to change out the tool. Like using
a 10 millimeter socket. He laughs because he
understood the joke. That's the one that usually
disappears. It always disappears. Yes. We're
all there, brother. We're all there. On that
note, let us pray. Father, we thank you for your
love and your patience with us every single day.
Matter of fact, we know that we all too often
test that patience. Part of being human, I guess.
We know sometimes we pick the wrong tool for
the job. But we thank you for your gentleness
and helping us to learn the right one that we
should be using and how to wield it. At the same
time, we ask you to help us to remain humble.
not to get too full of ourselves or too far ahead
of ourselves. Our ego and our pride that lead
us into sin and away from the path, we want to
make sure that not only are we on the path towards
you, but we're that tool that you can use to
guide others towards you in your light as well.
We thank you for reminding us how we should be
leading the lost towards you by building each
other up, by building trust with one another,
by having a relationship with others just as
you have a relationship with us. We thank you
for illuminating all this so that we're not just
wandering off the path like the one sheep ourself.
All of his people said, amen and amen. Remember,
as you leave here, you're loved and you're blessed,
so go and be the church. Until next time, take
care and God bless.