A change of heart
- Jul 9, 2015
- 2 min read
Do you, like me, get frustrated when TV interviewers interrupt their interviewee before the latter has had a chance to lay out their position? No sooner has the interviewer asked the initial question, than they want to move onto the next before the first has been answered! I guess that it is all part of the sound bite culture. Recently, I was present when the preacher in church challenged each of the congregation to say how he or she would, in the space of 30 seconds or so, explain to a man in the street what the Christian gospel is. I think I would want to say something like this:
God is in the business of changing people’s hearts. This is his purpose because he knows that deep down we wish to keep him at a safe distance. God however wants to draw people close to himself. Out of all of his magnificent and complex creation, it is human beings alone that have the capacity for an intimate relationship with God their creator. It is through Jesus that cold hearts can be warmed, so that we desire to be God’s very own, in a marriage-like relationship.
Well I think that explanation took about 30 seconds to say! I would hope that such a sound bite would spark my listener’s interest, so that I could explain more about the importance of Jesus, and how he gathers people to God as a shepherd gathers in his sheep.
The fact is, the Christian gospel (gospel means good news) is not something that can be given a thoroughly worthy explanation in the space of a minute, or an hour, a day or even a lifetime. God has planned to give all eternity to his people so that they can explore the depths of his great love, utter faithfulness, impeccable justice - in short, God’s perfection.
That last part sounds pretty lofty, even mystical. God does not expect us to run before we can walk. What we each need right now is a heart for these things. This is what the good news of Jesus offers. The Christian message is the promise of a new heart for those who will place their trust in Jesus, a heart in which God begins to work his very own will in us, and this in a way that will delight us. One could say that God is in the business of spiritual heart transplants.