Don't Wait!

I mentioned yesterday how much I hate being late. At odds with this is the fact that I'm also a champion procrastinator. Back in high school, I used the "I work better under pressure" line like I invented it myself. Possibly, there's even a little truth to that. But whatever the case, I tend to wait on a lot of things until the last minute.

This was true for homework, and is still true for housework, for various aspects of my day job, and even for my home life. But worse than that, it's also true when it comes to sharing the Good News of Christ with other people.

Consider: we believe Man is fallen, and can never attain the perfection required by the God who created us. We can never be good enough to even enter His presence. Our lot is an eternal death, wholly separate from the God of the Universe. Yet, by his painful execution on the cross, Jesus, the Son of God, who wrapped Himself in flesh, made it possible to stand before God completely justified and unashamed. He took that imperfection and provided us a way to become something new and better in Him. And in so doing, He restored our relationship with the Father who never wanted us to walk away. This is the Gospel, and it's for everybody. But we wait.

Penn Jillette is an illusionist and avowed atheist. A few years ago, a man risked mockery and humiliation by presenting Penn with a Bible. While it didn't change his mind and force him to his knees to beg forgiveness of the God he has denied, a seed was planted. A powerful one. So powerful, Penn took to the internet just to tell everyone about the experience. And then Penn Jillette said something so profound, it has shamed me, and humbled me, and stuck with me ever since.

If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?

I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.

So what are you waiting for? We are given one life, and an unknown amount of time. We were given Grace and forgiveness by Christ, and a command to let everyone know they can have it too. If we continue to put off our daily chores, if we continue to insist we can work on that project better under pressure, in this one thing, let us stop procrastinating. Because when it comes to the lives and souls of others, we simply don't have that right.