False Alarms!

We’re seeing them again on TV.  Yes, the back to school ads remind us that it won’t be long now, and kids will be returning to school.  That was never a favorite thought of mine even though I came from a family that had great respect for both education and teachers.  When I think of going back to school, especially concerning high school, two things stand out that don’t have anything to do with either academics or socialization.  First, I often had a package of those chocolate cupcakes with the white squiggle on top for lunch, along with a carton of milk–I know, I didn’t score 100 on the food pyramid’s suggestions, did I, but I still think those little treats are good eating!  Second, I remember “the day of the fire drills” that seemed as if it would never end!

The first drill was ordinary, and we left the building on cue.  However that was followed by at least three other times of our having to exit the building because someone thought it was really funny to set it off and cause everyone to evacuate the premises.  By the time the last of the alarms went off, no one wanted to leave, and there was plenty of irritation and a desire to “convince” the joker that he better not do that again.  Even though everyone was fairly certain no fire was smoldering, we had to leave each time, just in case we weren’t dealing with a “false alarm“!

In this world, there are many false alarms, and often they are not “set off” on purpose.  We are often warned about a possible outbreak of a virus, the possibility of a bad storm or an economic trend that may occur.  Since no one who studies and predicts such things can possibly know the future, sometimes in spite of best efforts, there are false alarms.  There are simply so many things we as human beings can not know for certain. I wonder if that is one reason that people sometimes find it so unbelievable when we tell them about our Savior.  We tell them of His love, holiness and sacrifice and how His provision is the only answer for the need that we each have.  Is it possible that one stumblingblock that they struggle to get over might be that they see us as ones who are setting off false alarms?  Their eyes have not yet been opened, as ours at one time were not, to how holy and pure the Lord is!  Not having seen that as true, they can’t understand the deficit that we each have.  We may appear to be sounding an alarm, when they haven’t seen any reason for it.  Isaiah, the Lord’s prophet, came face to face with the Lord’s awesomeness, and when he received an understanding of what the Lord is like, he was able to recognize his own unworthiness:

  In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”   At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.   “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:1-5 

It was the Lord who showed the prophet what was true, in His time and in His way.  So, how are we helped by understanding that it is God’s work to open people’s eyes to His truth in a world that has heard many false alarms? We can truly interact with people with patience and humility, knowing that we lived, at one time, not having the understanding that the alarm that was being sounded by Christians was warning us of truth of the utmost importance, His provision could keep us from an eternity spent away from Jesus, and we could, instead choose eternal life with Him:

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18

Out of gratitude for God’s kindness toward us, and because we believe in the importance of what we have to share, we speak with boldness and grace:

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:5-6 

Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller is by his own admission an atheist.  In a video blog he tells what happened when he was talking to people after one of their shows.  A man approached him and told how he had enjoyed the show. Then he offered Penn Jillette a Gideon Bible without being defensive or unkind.  Mr. Jillette received it because even as an atheist, he understood that if someone believes hell is a real place to not tell him how it could be avoided would show hate. He said: “And I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell and that people could be going to hell . . . How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?” Let’s continue to sound the alarm, knowing that some may be put off, but others will believe:

 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:11-12

 Thank You Lord for making Yourself known to us even when we thought it was simply a false alarm.