Tuesday, July 18, 2006
In high school, our teenage son lived a very, very busy life which I think might go with having this last name. And I could sometimes find him finally ending up on the couch for just kind of a collapse, you know, and he deserved it. He would set up this little comfort zone there. He'd have his New York Giants mug, and his school books, and his TV guide, in case he had time to watch. And most important, he had his phone. Unfortunately, the phone hooked up two rooms away. That means the cord was stretched to the max to get it to the couch, and I could tell when he had the phone there, because I kept hearing people muttering through the house after they tripped over the cord. It was right where everybody had to walk to get to the living room or to the kitchen. And I'd say, "Son, you've got to do something about this thing that people keep tripping over." Well, so do you!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tripper Upper."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 2:24. It's a sobering indictment of first-century Jewish believers. Listen to these words, "As it is written, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." "The Gentiles" really means the unreached people, and basically the Jews were the reached people. And He is saying, "You believers, you know, because of you, the unreached people are blaspheming God." He talks a little bit about why, for example in chapter 2, verse 21. He says, "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?" Then He says, "God's name is blasphemed because of you. You're not living what you say you believe, and people are tripping over the contradictions." It's like my son's telephone cord. It's in the way. You've got to ask, what is there in my life that may be keeping someone from Jesus and from heaven?
It's a terrible thought to think that someone might end up in hell forever because I turned them off to Jesus by my inconsistency. Maybe your temper is canceling out your message about a loving Savior. Maybe the humor that you use is contradicting the purity that you say Jesus stands for. Maybe your sarcasm is a little hard to reconcile with the compassion of Jesus. Maybe your gossip and your backstabbing is confusing people. Maybe it's the fact that you tend to be so negative. Maybe it's your laziness at school, or your complaining attitude, or your laziness at work. You know, a Christian ought to be the best employee that an employer's got, so that they give credit to the name of Jesus.
You ought to be the hardest-working student in that class whether you get the best grades or not. You're an advertisement for your Savior. I know you'd hate to be a reason for someone to reject Christ, all because you never dealt with your "tripper upper."
Actually, if you would let Jesus change that part of you; that part that is out of control, that's inconsistent, that's confusing to an unbeliever, it might just create the curiosity they need to start investigating a life-changing Christ. It might give you the best opening you've ever had to share Christ. They're going to say, "Man, what happened to you," because it will be in an area where they never saw you this way before. And that is a powerful testimony.
My son and I had to solve that cord problem before someone got hurt, and he had to do something about the thing that kept tripping people up. I hope you'll do that in your spiritual life. I believe that you can provide an uncluttered path to the Jesus who your friends so desperately need if you'll just get rid of that "tripper upper."