Small Steps, Giant Leaps

Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ."

Every day people easily put their faith in simple, unreliable things. When I insert the key into my car's ignition, I have faith that the engine will turn over - even though cars fail every day. When I flip a light switch, I have faith that the room will be illuminated - even though light bulbs eventually burn out. When a skydiver jumps from a plane, he or she has faith that the parachute will deploy and save them from a series of unfortunate events, so to speak - even though we've all heard of incidents where that was not the case.

Why is it that somebody would actually throw themselves from an airplane and expect to live? On what basis do they have reason to believe the parachute will save them? This is an important question. Think about it. If a person has never attempted skydiving before, why should they believe that the parachute will open for them as it has for others - and believing it strongly enough to step off the edge of the plane? Chances are, there is somebody who explained to them how the parachute works. Another person who put their faith in it - and has proven it to be true in his or her own life - has explained it. Somebody who experienced it first-hand convinced the new skydiver that it really works and is worth the jump. This person explained the "Good News" of parachutes to somebody who will soon be falling fast. This is exactly how faith and the message of Jesus Christ spreads from one person to another. Somebody who has proven it to be true in his or her own life is asked to pass that information along to somebody who has not.

Right now, we're all falling. But many of us have Christ in our lives - the parachute that will save us from eternal death. He loves us enough to catch anyone who is willing to accept His love and believe in Him, guiding them gently to safety. It's open to anyone because not one person in this world is worthier than another to be saved by Him. We don't have to earn it, but we do have to consciously receive it.

Hebrews 12:1 begins, "We have around us many people whose lives tell us what faith means." The first scripture says that faith comes from hearing the Good News of Christ. This second scripture is tangible evidence of that Good News - changed lives and hearts. So if we are surrounded by so many people whose lives tell us what faith means, why aren't they all passing it along? Why aren't they handing extra parachutes out to their friends and family who are still falling? Why aren't people who haven't heard the Good News getting it from those whose lives tell us what faith means?

This morning I came across an excerpt with a similar theme from God Came Near by Max Lucado. It made me chuckle. Here it is for your reading pleasure:

A few nights ago a peculiar thing happened. An electrical storm caused a blackout in our neighborhood. When the lights went out, I felt my way through the darkness into the storage closet where we keep the candles for nights like this...I took a match and lit four of them...
I was turning to leave with the large candle in my hand when I heard a voice, "Now hold it right there."
"Who said that?" I asked.
"I did." The voice was near my hand.
"Who are you? What are you?"
"I'm a candle." I lifted up the candle to take a closer look. You won't believe what I saw. There was a tiny face in the wax...a moving, functioning, flesh-like face full of expression and life. "Don't take me out of here!"
"What?"
"I said, don't take me out of this room!"
"What do you mean? I have to take you out. You're a candle. Your job is to give light. It's dark out there."
"But you can't take me out. I'm not ready," the candle explained with pleading eyes. "I need more preparation."
I couldn't believe my ears. "More preparation?"
"Yeah, I've decided I need to research this job of light-giving so I won't go out and make a bunch of mistakes. You'd be surprised how distorted the glow of an untrained candle can be..."
"All right then," I said. "You're not the only candle on the shelf. I'll blow you out and take the others." But just as I got my cheeks full of air, I heard other voices.
"We aren't going either!" ...I turned around and looked at the three other candles...
"You are candles and your job is to light dark places!"
"Well, that may be what you think," said the candle on the far left..."You may think we have to go, but I'm busy...I'm meditating on the importance of light. It's really enlightening..."
"And you other two," I asked. "Are you going to stay in here as well?"
A short, fat, purple candle spoke up, "I'm waiting to get my life together. I'm not stable enough."
The last candle had a female voice, very pleasant to the ear. "I'd like to help," she explained, "but lighting the darkness is not my gift...I'm a singer. I sing to other candles to encourage them to burn more brightly." She began a rendition of This Little Light of Mine. The other three joined in, filling the room with singing.
I took a step back and considerred the absurdity of it all. Four perfectly healthy candles singing to each other about light but refusing to come out of the closet...

Are you a closet Christian, or are you letting your light shine so that others - having heard the message of Good News from you - can have faith of their own?