Repeat Saturday: Stuck
No new post this weekend, so here’s a repeat you might have missed:
One time when I was in college a bunch of my friends and I went to a party. We drove back to our dorm, but couldn’t find it. (Yes, we all had been drinking.) (No, I wasn’t a Christian yet.) We seemed to be driving in circles because we went past a BP Gas Station a couple of times. We were very frustrated; how could we not find our way to our own dorm? Finally, we stopped at that BP to get directions. We set off, now confident that we’d find our way, but were soon lost again. Awhile later we saw another BP Gas Station and decided to stop at this one to ask for better directions. Unfortunately, when we walked in we realized … it was the same BP.
A few years ago I lost my wallet on a trip. A week later I flew to Austin, Texas. I brought a church credit card with me. When I arrived I went to pick up my car, but the rental agency wouldn’t let me have one because I couldn’t produce a driver’s license. I showed them my credit card, but they wouldn’t let me drive without a license. I sighed and walked out to a taxi. I asked a guy if he could drive me to Gateway Church. He said yes, and told me how much it would cost. I said no problem, I had a credit card. He explained that he (nor any taxis) took credit cards. I didn’t have enough cash. And so I stood there, knowing where I wanted to go, but having no way to get there.
On a Sunday morning last month about a half hour before service I went into a stall in the men’s bathroom. Soon after I was done, but there was only one problem – I couldn’t leave. The door would not open. I unlocked it, turned the handle one way and then the other, pulled, pushed. I slammed my body against it. It would not open. I started evaluating my options. I looked down and decided there was no way I could slide under the door. I could just stay in there and skip the service. It would, of course, have a glaring lack of a sermon. Another option was to start screaming for help. This would probably get me out of the stall, but I wasn’t sure I could ever overcome the embarrassment.
We’re trying to use this blog to think about how to become more effective at reaching lost people. Last week we said we need to understand God’s heart for lost people. This week we’re trying to understand the heart of lost people.
Here’s one thing we need to understand: Somewhere down deep inside every person doing life without God feels stuck. They feel like they keep going in circles, like they know where they want to go but having no idea how to get there, like there’s no way out of the problems they have (but aren’t willing to talk about). They may give the impression that everything is perfect and life is a party, but inside they feel stuck.
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