Bad or Good
The short excerpt is by me, and the Scripture is Matthew 9:12-13 Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
This time of the year I am recruiting students and adults for a Young Life trip that we take every March to Southwind down in Florida. It's actually a middle school trip, but we bring high school work crew and leaders. Our high school leaders must be professing Christians, but no one else needs to be. Young Life's mission is to reach kids that aren't Christians.
As I recruit Christian leaders not all them choose to go with us. Many are going on a vacation with their families, and some have various other reasons such as trips with their friends or college visits, etc. A Christian high schooler told me once recently that she didn't want to go because she didn't want to be associated or seen with the kinds of folks that go on our trips. I tried to explain that we weren't a Christian youth group, but an outreach to folks that aren't Christians. I didn't change her mind.
Some people are out doing stuff with the opposite sex that they aren't supposed to do until they are married, they are getting high on alcohol and drugs, and they are cheating in school and doing other stuff that is not very wholesome. They need Jesus.
But there is another group of people that are doing the right stuff. They are waiting for marriage to have sex, they aren't getting high on drugs or alcohol, they are in church every week, and they are dotting their i's and crossing their t's. They also need Jesus.
The scary part about the good and moral group is that they can't see that they are sick. They are full of self-righteousness, they don't love or care about the people that Jesus came to save, and they are blind to the fact that they are just as bad as the folks getting high and doing unwholesome stuff.
Here's the point. Whether we are good morally or bad morally, we all are messed up and need Jesus. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 3:23, 6:23).
Have a great week!-David Vining
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