II Corinthians 5:11-15

Verse 11 - "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men, but we are well known to God and also trust are well known in your conscience." In the SoulCare Bible translation it says, "Knowing, therefore, what it means to revere the Lord, we seek to win people over, is the point I want to make. Because we know what it's all about we seek to win people over. Because we have enjoyed His blessings and benefits we want others to enjoy them as well. We seek to win people over, our motives are clear to God, and I hope that they are clear to you as well. This is no repeat commendation of ourselves to you, but is providing you with an incentive to feel proud of us, so that you may reply to those who are proud of a person's position but not from the heart." In the Living Bible it says it this way; "So you can use this that we are telling you on those preachers of yours who brag about how well they look and how well they preach but they do not do so from a true and honest heart."

Verse 13 says, "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God. If we are thoughtful, it is for your benefit. For the love of Christ laid hold of us and brings us to one conclusion, one died for all so that they all died." That means, Jesus died once for sin for everybody, but everybody will not accept that, so he died for all, but all are not going to be saved; it is still a matter of choice. Jesus died once for sin and all who will trust in Him they will die as well, that is, they will die to their sinful way and lifestyle and live as unto the Lord.

Verse 15 says, "He died for all so that all who live may no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them." In the SoulCare Bible it reads, "He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again." He is saying the love of Christ has gotten a grip on us, and we love Him so much for what He means to us and for what He has done in our lives and for the way He has led and directed us and filled us with joy unspeakable and full of glory. For the peace He has brought to our hearts we love Him so much. In and through Jesus Christ we have received such bounty and such blessing that we want to convince others that they need to give the Lord a chance in their lives as well. He died for all and everyone is invited to die out to their old sinful past and old sinful habits and live no longer for themselves, but for the one who loved them so much He died for them, but was buried and rose again and sits today at the Father's right hand interceding for them.

It says we win them over because (I always like cause and effect), we don't want to win people over for numbers to pack this place out; that would be wonderful, but that's not the motive. We want to win people over so that they can enjoy the benefits and the blessings that we enjoy and know what it means to go to bed at night free from all guilt and shame and condemnation. Free from any fear of anything happening in the night that would take us out of this life into a never dying flame of fire, but rather into His presence and into the place that He has gone to prepare for us. We want them to live experiencing what we have experienced, because He is so wonderful and His promises are so great and His peace is so deep and so reassuring. There is a deep settled peace in my soul. His forgiveness is so entire, total and complete and His acceptance of us is beyond human comprehension. That God should love a sinner such as I, how wonderful His love for me. Why wouldn't we want everybody around us to enjoy that same thing? Why wouldn't we want people who are without to have? People who don't know, to know? People who are lonely to have this kind of companion?

Listen to these words, The Christian sees through eyes that are kinder, like Jesus. He gives from a bigger heart, just like God. He speaks with a purer tongue, just like his Lord. He shares with more willing hands, just like Jesus served. He walks with a greater faith-like stride, just like his Master. He loves with agape love, like the Father in Heaven. He thinks with a spiritual mind, He has the mind of Christ. He sees the needs of others, with a compassionate view, just like Jesus. He heals the wounds of others with the loving touch, just like his Lord. The Christian is different, but he is only different when Jesus is Lord of his life.

Vince Lombardi, former coach of the NFL, whose team went on to win the Super Bowl, began every season holding a football up in his hand before all of his veteran players and saying, "This is a football. Those are the yard markers. That is the goal line. The object is to get this thing, by passing, punting, kicking or running over that line. That's how you win football games." Every year, Vice Lombardi would say, it's back to the basics…this is a football.

The Christian life is not too different from all of that. This is the Word of God. In this, Jesus said, Go out there and tell everybody what I've done for you. Jesus said Go. The church says come. We've got hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in this edifice and we can't afford you going somewhere else, so you need to come into this place. We have gotten to the place where almost everything the Christian does focuses on the church and the church building and the church programs and the church dinners and all those things, when all the time Jesus said, Go. As you're going, tell them about me. As you go into the highways and byways, tell them to come in. The church says that means come into the church. No, it means come into relationship with Him. We get things so mixed up. Jesus said go, we say come, He says move out there where they are, the church says come apart from among them and be separate.

The church is not this building, it is the people who sit in it. He says the church is on the move out there every day rubbing elbows with people who do not yet know, have not yet experienced my love and my grace, my protection, my provision, my goodness, my forgiveness, my acceptance and they ought to have a right and an opportunity to hear it and to experience it, the same way you have, but who's going to go and tell them, if you don't? Who's going to share if you don't? Who's going to love them, if you don't? God has you out there rubbing elbows with people for a reason. That we might love them and convince them to give God an opportunity or chance in their lives, things can be so much better for them.

It's amazing to me how many times people out there in the world think the church is their enemy. Church isn't their enemy, it's probably their greatest friend they will ever have in all of life. They will pray for you, dig down deep for you, give to you, go for you, cover for you, excuse for you, throw a blanket over your sins and hide them so nobody else can see them. The church is one of the greatest groups of people you can ever belong to. It's not your enemy.

The great commission tells us to reach out (and this is before Ma Bell), reach out and touch somebody. Talk to people. Don't hesitate. The other day while in a retail store, I said to the beautiful lady of color behind the counter, "How are you today?" She said, "I am marvelously blessed of the Lord and I want to let you know that. Bless God, let's have church in here! It only takes two!" I said, "That's a marvelous response. I wish more people would use that." What a great way to start your conversation with anyone. He said get out there and touch people's lives. Reach out to those still lost and still struggling in their sin. Life is battering them and beating them on all sides and they are finding it difficult. A lot of them are very, very hurt. Some have been hurt by my institution called the church. Churches have turned them away from the door and said to some of them, "Get out; we don't need your kind in here. If you are going to do those things, go join some other church, we don't want you here." Church has let them down in their time of need.

The organized church has left people wandering in the darkness with no light or hope or encouragement whatsoever. "The organized church has not done what I've asked it to and I'm saying to you reach out and touch their lives", Jesus says. They are lost, sin-sick and they are depressed. Has anyone noticed along with me in the papers recently, how many suicides are taking place right under our noses? Sin-sick and depressed people, heart broken, shattered dreams, empty lives with no sense or rhyme or reason. Love them enough to let them know there is an answer. There is hope. There is help. Someone cares. When I was on the radio up north, I always ended my live broadcast saying, "God loves you very much, and so do I."

Share with them what has happened in your life. You don't have to get preachy. Share with them and tell them it can happen in theirs as well. The question again, as the title for today's message is, if I don't care, who is going to? If you don't care, who will? I know sometimes you can't stand them. Sometimes they are a pain to be around. I think sometimes they work hard at being obstinate, like they have been whopped up along side the head with an ugly stick. These are the greatest candidates for the expression from you, "I'm wonderfully blessed of the Lord!"

I know sometimes our toleration level runs pretty shallow and sometimes we find it difficult to reach out to them. I know that. We don't like what they do, therefore, we have a tendency to not like them either. God has said, "For my sake, separate the man from his deeds. I didn't love what you were doing either, but I got a hold of you and forgave you of your sin and cleaned you up and you're a whole lot better now. I still don't like a lot of things you are doing now, but we are working on it together, so don't sit in judgement over somebody. I don't like what they do either, but I like them. I like the potential that's all wrapped up in them, once they come to me and ask for forgiveness of their sin, you'll see along with me, what a wonderful change will take place in their lives, but they still have to hear. I know you don't like their dress style, but look beyond that. You may not like their foul language. That's okay, look beyond that. I put up with it all the time; you can put up with it once in awhile."

You cannot expect sinful people to have a Christian vocabulary. If you think they are going to act nice, that's not going to happen and if you think it is you are living a fairy tale. I'm not into people piercing all kinds of body parts and showing it off. I'm not into that. I guess I'm old fashioned. In the store the other day, I looked down the hall and saw a lady who was kind of stocky and every bit of flesh covering her large frame was tattooed with everything imaginable. I'm not into that at all. My toleration has a limit. I don't like pierced body parts and tattoos on women or men. We must look beyond their idiosyncrasies and their own lifestyles now and get a chance to see, by the eye of faith, potential that is there if Jesus ever became Lord of their lives.

My question today, can we care enough, and if we can't, who will? Society changes around us all the time. Things that were taboo a few years ago are no longer taboo. Words that never were spoken in public out loud, are now commonplace. Words that you would never see on television and were always blocked out by a bleep are now being used. On and on it goes. Society continues to change around us and I'm afraid it's not for the better. Some of us struggle to keep up with it. Many in the church have stopped even trying and they have asked God to put a pair of blinders on them. The church has become like the three monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Let the world pass me by, I'm not interested. God let me get out of this place as quickly as I possibly can, but, if we don't care, who's going to care?

Even though society is changing rapidly all around us, we don't. We don't change our purpose in the midst of this ever-changing world around us. We're the same. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. He continues to love and continues to reach out and try to draw people in and even though we reach a limit and sometimes our own toleration level grates us and can't tolerate some things, yet we must never say that about people and their eternal destination and their opportunity to come to know God in saving grace. Neither do we change our approach just to become relevant to the world. Some churches are doing that. They are changing to become suitable. Changing their approach to become seeker friendly. I'm seeking a church that will do this or that for me. I'm seeking a church that says it's okay for me to come in my micro mini skirt and halter top.

We don't change our approach and we don't change our message and we don't change our methods to become relevant to an ever changing society. I believe that when my parents were born again in the old fashioned way, confessed their sins to Jesus Christ, repented of their sins, asked Him to come into their hearts, to accept them as they were and then begin to work in them, is the same approach we must take today. This business of shaking the preacher's hand and signing a commitment card never cut it as far I'm concerned. Barna in someof his recent research says, as high as 85% of the people in the church today professing to be Christians have a question mark about whether there is an actual hell, an actual devil, an actual abiding place beyond this life. Something is wrong. Tolsar wrote an article that says the richest harvest field we have in America today sits gathered together at 11:00 on Sunday morning, for a full 65 to 70% of them are professing Christians who have never been born again. Think about that.

So this is the Bible, this is the Word of God and in it Jesus says go to where they are and share with them My love and the story of what I have done in your life, and what I have done for you can happen in their lives as well. Remember our text verse, "We care enough so we try to win them over." We love them enough, so we try to change their mind. We are concerned enough about their lifestyle. Do you know sometimes the harder they try the deeper they sink? You know anyone like that? The harder they make the attempt at living life the further behind they get? It is not serving the Lord with gladness, coming before his presence with singing, it's knock 'em down, drag 'em out and fight and struggle and struggle and fight and worry and worry and press and dig, etc., and He says to us, the key is letting Jesus live His life in you and through you all the time, every day, under all circumstances and conditions. It isn't trying harder, it's thinking smarter.

If Jesus said I have the victory then I must begin to live in victory. "Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Then if I have the victory and I'm not looking, acting, talking and walking around like a victor, I'm acting like a victim. We sing, "If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy, let Jesus come into your heart", and yet we find in so many Christians today the plug has been pulled and the joy is gone. He said, "My peace I leave with you, let not your heart be troubled", yet I see so many Christians today downing pills like Prozac so fast it isn't even funny. They haven't got any kind of peace in their heart at all and it's because they are trying to do it. They think, somehow or other, that everything is up to them and they believe the same thing is true now that they are a Christian. Well, if everything is up to you, I'm going to bail out. But if everything is up to Him, then that's something I want to be a part of.

The next verse says it this way, "The love of Christ has laid a hold of us." Why are we here and what is all this stuff all about? Here is what it is all about, in my opinion, and I turn to Deuteronomy 31:12. "Gather the people together, men and women and little ones and the stranger (or visitor) who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law." Verse 13 says, "That their children who have not known may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you have crossed over Jordan to possess", or the promised land. Gather them together so that they may have an opportunity to hear and to learn and to observe and that's what this is all about. That is why we're here. That the children who have never known, don't know anything about Jesus, may come into this place and hear and learn about Jesus and learn about the Book and learn how to revere and respect God as long as you live in the land that God has given you. Love them enough to share with them so that they will have an opportunity to come to know the same thing that you know and that we almost always take for granted.

Give them an opportunity and they will teach their children as well and this is what I call a far reaching effect. They hear it, they teach it to their children and they teach it to the visitor who has come to stay with them. Moms and dads and children and even the visitor need to hear. A lot of us have people within our sphere of influence who are total strangers to the church and what is going on in the body of Christ, but they need a chance. Someone once said to me, "Man, if I had only known it was like this, I would have done it years ago. If I knew that the church was not a place to be despised, but a loving group of passionate people and caring people and praying people and so on, I would have done this years ago."

Teach them. That's what will meet the human need. Teach them. The words are again, "that they may hear" and how will they hear without someone saying something. So just living your life among them is fine, but they still need to hear something. The Gaither's song says, "You can talk about the weather, you can talk about your clothes and you can talk about your vacation and about your cars and about everything under the sun, except the most important thing, you cannot talk to them about Jesus." How are they going to hear, if they are not here to hear? You need to speak to them where they are. When they hear, they will learn and undoubtedly do the same thing you did. You heard, you learned, you turned your life over to Jesus. They will most likely do the same thing. That is, if we care enough to share. The scripture tells us to spiritually care enough to reach out to them and see if you can, with the Lord's help, involve them also in this whole process. We also said Sunday School was so important. Go get the children and bring them in by the bus load, get those children in and teach them and expose them to things of God, but then we found out something; you can have all those buses out there on the road, paying for all that gas and all that insurance and all the drivers and have a helper on the bus leading Sunday School choruses, but if some other church reaches their parents, the children will go with the parents. So He said Moms and dads and little ones and the stranger within your gate, so that they can hear, so that they can learn, so that they can respond to the love of God and the compassion of Christ and they can start the process all over again in someone else's life because moms know moms and dads know dads and teenagers know teenagers and kids know kids.

I close today with an example. Turn to II Kings chapter 5. "Now Naaman, captain of the army of the King of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his Master because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper." Naaman was a great guy, but he had a problem. Leprosy will sooner or later take you, sometimes sooner than later. The Bible goes on to say and the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife and one day she said to her mistress, "If only my master was with the prophet who is in Samaria, for He would heal him of his leprosy." She cared enough. She cared enough to speak up and say something because she watched him every day and knew what he was going through as a leper. She was willing, even as a handmaiden, to speak up and say, would to God he would go to where the man of God is because he could be healed of his leprosy. The Bible says, out of the mouths of babes, and a little child shall lead them. I trust that this little example will speak to us today in volumes. She cared, she cared enough to get involved and to speak up and let the master of the house, Naaman, know there was hope, and help for his condition, if he was willing to do something about it. You know the story and how it ended. He did indeed wash seven times and did indeed come up out of the waters of the Jordan absolutely cured of his leprosy. Where did it start? A little girl who was willing to speak up. I ask you today, are you willing to speak up?