I became a believer at 29. I lived a lifetime in rebellion with God. I remember my friend saying that her New Year’s “wish” was that all of her friends would become, “nerds for Jesus”… that was December 31st, 2005. I became a believer in January of 2006. God saw fit to put people in my life that may not have been a “text-book” Christian, but they loved HIM. I think back to the way God worked in my heart, the tools He used, the people He used … and all weren’t, well… perfect, honestly, some of the stuff I read then, I’d not recommend it to a new believer now.
So, I ask, What’s the right way to get saved? Is there a wrong way?
These are rhetorical questions. If God is doing the saving, which HE is… there isn’t a wrong way. BUT, if in your heart of hearts you sincerely believe that there is a “right” way and a “wrong” way to get saved, then I respectfully submit to you that maybe you get out of the way and allow God to do His thing. Luke 19:40 says that even if Christ’s disciples didn’t speak, stones would cry out. Stones. As my husband and I paraphrase it, He’d use rocks.
When I was a very new baby Christian, I read a lot… I mean… A LOT. I read the Bible, I read the entire Left Behind Series, I read The Purpose Driven Life. I was just hungry to get to know who the heck Jesus was, and I hadn’t even made my way into a church yet. All I had at the time was a Bible and some friends who loved the Lord. None of us, in my friend group, were “text-book” Christians. But… you fast-forward to February 2020, and we are all nerds for Jesus.
My husband and I were blessed to sit through a celebration service at our church for a judgement house they held there. What’s a judgment house? {I had to ask too. Not being raised at church I had never in my life heard about this} It’s a drama that delivers the gospel message… the good news about who Jesus is. I initially (regretfully) associated this with an episode of Young Sheldon I saw. The mom in the TV show had a similar “drama” her character puts on for her church, where at the end you “met Jesus”. So, to say that I was skeptical would be the under-statement of a lifetime. Well… I was wrong. THANK YOU, GOD, I was wrong! The entire experience was a blessing and a loving reminder that God will use whatever HE wants to reach the lost.
There are, at times, christian concerts, worship songs, worship styles, fictional books, people or church events, that are biblically sound, but a bit different, or unconventional, or out of our personal comfort zones. We need to then ask what’s the motivation behind the concert or song or event. Is it a love for the Lord? Is it a heart for the lost? If the answer to both of those questions is YES, then… we need to GET OUT OF THE WAY! God doesn’t use our “text-book” HE uses HIS.
We walked out of that celebration service and my husband said, “I’ll never question the rocks again” I knew instantly what he meant, and I couldn’t agree more.