Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. – Matthew 10

I’ve begun to use a simple tool, 3-Circles to explain the Gospel message to people on the streets. It’s not perfect, but it conveys a simple and visual message to listeners. It says, we are broken, that God originally had a perfect design but through our own bad choices we have become broken, and that Jesus can restore us. We just need to turn and follow.

When we go out on the streets today, I carry a little pad and pencil so I can draw the 3-Circles with people and explain things along the way. At the end, I ask, “which circle do you think you’re in?” which usually elicits a response, ‘brokenness.’ Which circle would you like to be in, and again we usually get the response, ‘God’s perfect design’. Then, to be frank, comes the stumbling block.

This weekend I met Toshi, a young Japanese student drawing on the streets – he will write your name in beautiful Japanese calligraphy, and chat at the same time, for a small donation. I asked him if he had heard the name ‘Jesus Christ’ which surprisingly he hadn’t until he looked it up in his translator. Then ensued the discussion, Buddha or Jesus, which seemed a natural point to introduce Jesus through the 3-Circles. As we walked through a simple Gospel message, we had a great discussion, and Toshi wrote Jesus beautifully in Japanese.

But it’s where people – many people, get stuck that intrigues me. I read it in their face, or they simply stumble or walk away.

You see, to get from ‘brokenness’ to ‘God’s perfect design’ we actually need to do something. We need to ‘turn and follow’ modern day parlance for repent and believe. Turning and following is where people stumble. In an instant, people seem to weigh up the demands that are ahead and consider the cost. Almost always, it is too much.

Think it ends there? Not at all.

Around the world, millions of believers sit in their churches, never having considered what it really means to ‘turn and follow.’ I have been one of them. The turning means to stop what we are doing, stop doing the things that offend Jesus profoundly. I think in the past 12 months, above everything I have come to realise the horror of the human situation. Not one of us will even remotely stand before a Holy God, we should all of us, be on our faces in the dust.

The follow occurs after the turn, it means simply that we do the things our Lord asks us to do. If he is our Lord, we will obey. If we recognise the horror of who we really are and what he has done, out of sheer gratitude, we will obey.

So few, so very few ever get to this, and so we end up almost following Jesus. To almost follow Jesus is what so many want; it means that we can carry on in the same vein, doing the same things that we did when Jesus first came to us. Little changes. Then, when he turns to us, raising his hand beckoning us to follow him to total obedience, we instead turn and go in a different direction.

How tragic for Jesus, how tragic for us. We see, we read about the freedom in the Gospels; we hear the stories even today, stories of those who are totally set free and then give their lives to him. But for us, for so many it seems so hard to give up. Is it because we have so much?

For those who do, what of them? Well, Jesus promises here that if we lose our lives for his sake – that is, if we truly turn and truly follow him, make him our Lord, we will gain our lives forever.

Surely it is time for us to take notice of that. If we will do it, consider too, others might notice.

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost – Luke

This week, a man who comes to our Discovery Group texted me, “I’ve lost my way.” An alcoholic and addict, his communication to me varies between rage to complete breakdown. For now at least, he is lost.

Today, he invited me to his AA meeting; I went along, but he didn’t show. I must admit, sitting through an AA meeting I couldn’t help but feel we had missed the mark as church. It was quite an experience. Haphazardly seated in a circle, some 60-odd people shared in an orderly way, their journey through alcoholism to sanity. There was no clear leader, only a moderator who quickly handed the group over to others. Doctors or drop-outs, it was impossible to tell as our differences were left behind at the door.

The stories were punchy and powerful and there was a gritty reality with honesty, truthfulness. No one was under any illusion as to their status, that they hadn’t ‘stuffed it up’. As with all sin, along the way there had been lots of suffering both for themselves and those close to them. One man in particular, told of punching holes in the wall, punching his wife, abusing his two girls and eventually – because his wife told him he ‘had problems,’ had an affair with another person in rehab and posted it publicly. His story was so raw, I couldn’t tell whether this had happened last week, last year or a decade ago. He knew and readily admitted that he had a daily choice to make; he could have alcohol, or everything else. Twelve years ago and each day since, he chose everything else. Daily repentance, turning from that which destroys us.

God was no bystander in the events, and conversation was peppered with stories of prayer, hope and being very grateful to God. Everyone knew salvation from where they had been and some at least, had found Christ. My friend asked whether Jesus would fit more comfortably into an environment such as this, rather than our idea of ‘church’. Coming away, I pondered that and wondered about our dull acceptance of the definition of church.

Reading through the chronological story of the early New Testament church, and thinking of this meeting today, I am acutely aware that our current Christian culture is so very different compared to that era. Firstly, I wonder if we truly understand how alien and foreign our culture is to an outside world. Even our language makes no sense to the lay person, as we struggle to explain our faith in a relevant way.  Our world is one of systems, theology, methodology as we use words few understand; even the word ‘Christian’ today, has strong connotations to most non-believers.

Then, it seems we no longer connect with those who are truly broken; those who had lost their way, came to Christ most willingly. Our friends, other believers, the circles we mix in generally seem to have it altogether and less willing to bare their soul. Indeed, most would be hostile to the Gospel, being affronted by the suggestion they are in need. Who needs Jesus, when you have all this – do we even?

The replacement in many believer’s lives, of Jesus for a system or institution has caused us to be largely irrelevant to the world. Somehow, we need to break down the barriers to reach this world for Christ, and I would suggest the barriers are often more on our side. We do that by laying aside our Christian culture, and presenting Jesus as one who genuinely loves us, and can truly set us free.

We must allow the Holy Spirit to flow daily through our lives – Christ within us literally, such that we can be relevant in both manner and speech to those who are seeking answers to life. Then, let our hearts be sensitive to those around us who are broken and lost as we look for an opportunity to share. Sitting through AA made me realise one thing, these people are our neighbours, work colleagues or community friends. We just wouldn’t know it.

Let us examine before Christ, those aspects of our faith that aren’t relevant to a world in need, and courageously discard them. Inevitably, I suspect, we will be left with little other than the One himself.

Incidentally, pray for my friend – Rob is his name; I sincerely believe Jesus wants to touch his life in spite of his wandering off from time to time.