Save the Perishing Blog

Tonight we were at the Lee’s Summit Festival, six blocks of live entertainment, food vendors, a car show, carnival, kids fitness games, BBQ contests and more.  Tens of thousands attend and its a great opportunity to speak to people about the things of eternity.

I was handing out million dollar bill gospel tracts at one of the barriers when a young man of 18 named Kyle grabbed one.

“What is this?” he said.

I replied, “Its a million dollar bill with a million dollar question on the back.  The million dollar question is ‘Are you good enough to go to heaven?’ ”

He looked at me, smiled and said “Yes I think so.”

I said, “Do you mind if we take a test to see how good you are?”  He said, “Not at all.”

I introduced myself and said “Kyle, how many times have you lied in your life?”

He said, “So many I can’t count.”

“If you tell lies what does that make you?”  “A liar” he said.

“Have you ever stolen anything or taken something that didn’t belong to you?”  He seemed to be deep in thought for a few moments so I asked him, “Have you downloaded any music without paying for it?”  He immediately admitted he had.

I said, “If you have stolen what does that make you?”  “A thief” he said.

I then went on to ask him about whether he has blasphemed God’s name and lusted which according to God is adultery.  He admitted he had.

So I summed it up so Kyle would understand, “Kyle, I’m not judging you.  We have gone through some of the commandments and you have admitted to me of being a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart…and thats only four of the ten commandments, you have six more pointed at you.  You are just like me because I have broken them too.”

He was very quiet at this point and seemed…humble.

I asked him, “Kyle, one day you are going to die and when you do you will face God in judgement…God is a holy and a just judge…what should God do with you if you have broken his laws?  Should He let you into His heaven or kick you out?”

He paused for a moment in thought and then said, “Jesus died on the cross for me but now I have to be good enough.  I have tried to do good things to make sure I’m following Him.”

It occurred to me at that moment that Kyle didn’t fully understand the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross and how it affects him personally.  I said, “Kyle, lets say you are in front of a judge and you are being convicted of serious crimes.  If you tell the judge ‘I know I’m guilty but I’ve done more good than bad so you should let me go’ is the judge going to let you go?”

He smiled and said, “Nope.”

“Thats right!  If the judge is GOOD he will make sure justice is served.  Kyle, there is nothing wrong with trying to be good, to do the right thing, but no amount of good you do will be enough because God’s standard is perfection.”

He nodded as if he had heard this idea before.

I continued, “If you lived a perfect life from this point forward for 60 years never sinning once it still won’t matter because you have already sinned.  Kyle, here is what Christ did…you are in the courtroom and someone you don’t know walks in and says, ‘I LOVE Kyle and I will take you’re punishment for you!  You see, what Christ did was perform a LEGAL TRANSACTION between God and man.  God can’t simply ‘let you go’ because SOMEONE must pay the fine, and either you will or someone else will.  Jesus paid your fine and then rose from the dead defeating death.  In order for you to be PARDONED you must BELIEVE or TRUST in Christ to save you from hell.”

I tossed my backpack on the ground.

“Kyle you are on a plane and its going to crash…here is a parachute (I pointed to my backpack).  Are you going to think this parachute can save “someone but not me” and jump out of the plane flapping your arms hoping you can save yourself?  That would be dumb.”  He agreed.

“Or you could put the parachute on because you TRUST IT COMPLETELY and jump out, knowing the only thing saving you from death is this parachute.  Kyle the parachute is what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. The moment you trust in Him and Him alone He will save you from hell, not because of the good you do but because of what HE DID FOR YOU.”

Kyle was very quiet.  I could tell he was really listening.

I continued, “There is nothing wrong with doing good.  God in fact whats His people to do good, but know that good works do not save you because no one is perfect.  I’m not here talking to you to earn points with God, I’m here out of thankfulness for Christ saving me.  I’m not trying to APPEASE God, I’m trying to PLEASE God because He already saved me.  If a car was going to hit you while we are talking and I push you out of the way, saving your life I would think you would be thankful?”

He said “Yes I would.”

“You might be so thankful that if I asked you to help me with my elderly mother or something you would?”  He nodded yes.

“Christ died on a cross for your sins when you were still a sinner…when you didn’t deserve it…”

He nodded, I could tell he was understanding now.

“…believe and trust in Him and He will save you from hell…then show your THANKFULNESS to Him by doing what He says.  Do you understand now what Christ did for you?”

He smiled and said, “Yes!”

I shook his hand and he thanked me for talking to him.

Please pray for Kyle that he trusts completely in Christ and not in “Christ plus Himself.”