Sonny’s October article:
Reaching the Modern Secular World
This issue is on my mind lately as we think about how to encourage people who are lost in our
world. It seems more and more, fewer and fewer have the time or inclination to serve God in
His Church. The latest round of statistics seem to verify this feeling as only about 60% of
Americans identify as Christian today while 30% of our friends and neighbors call themselves
atheists or agnostics or as “nothing in particular” according to a recent Pew Research Center
study. Of this number of people that identify as Christian, only 33% acknowledge going to
church once a month! The more disturbing information is that less than half of the 18-24 year
old respondents identified as Christian. So, what is the solution? How do we reach people who
are lost in our world not seeking a spiritual guide in their lives? What to do?
I want to be introspective and ask, “how did we fail our youth?” We took our kids to church. We
taught them about God. We tried to help them find God in their lives. So, why do they continue
to fall away from God? What did we do wrong? Of course, there are many that will answer that
question by saying we were never serious about our faith. Our kids did not see us really
practicing our beliefs or, if we did, we were never perfect. I don’t know about you, but my
parents weren’t perfect. They did their best just as we did. Some would say our kids' lives are
just too easy. They don’t have to work like we did. Well, the bad news for us parents is that we
are the ones who facilitated that easy lifestyle. Perhaps the answer to this question of
non-belief is as simple as it's always been this way?
In Matthew 22:1-14, we read about the parable of the wedding feast. Here, we remember the
king invited many people to his son’s wedding feast but all the invited folks were too busy or
simply refused to come. In fact, they killed the messengers so the king killed them and invited
regular folks to the wedding banquet. I am able to follow this story so far. God invited the
Jewish leaders into His Kingdom, but they killed John the Baptist and Jesus himself, so they
were destroyed themselves (perhaps in Jerusalem by 70 AD?). But then Jesus confuses me
when the regular folks show up to celebrate with the king and one poor man is not dressed
appropriately. He is summarily thrown out of the Kingdom into “outer darkness.” (vs 13) Then
Jesus sums up the story by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (vs 14) Many
are called, but few are chosen, but why? Inappropriate clothes?
We want to think about this parable and its implications today. As a minister, I want to say that
every person is called to God’s Kingdom. The rich and poor are both called. Men and women.
Black and white. God wants everyone to attend His Son’s wedding feast in the Kingdom. So
the invites go out to everyone. Many do not want to attend. Good fellowship and the wedding
celebration do not speak to them. They have “better” things to do. Sound familiar? Many in our
world are too busy to bother with serving God or even their own community. They are not
interested in coming into God’s Kingdom and would rather suffer the eternal consequences than
change their minds. Of course, there are also many who would rather live in their sin as
opposed to following God’s guidance. This rebellion against God is a good definition of sin.
But what about the fellow who shows up at the wedding feast without the right clothes? How do
we parse this part of the story? Are we wearing the right wedding clothes in God’s Kingdom? I
would think that is an important question for us to answer today. Where do we go to get the
right clothing to wear in God’s kingdom?
Scriptures point to the answer to our clothes question based on the idea of baptism. Christians
are baptized into Christ and honor this relationship. They want to attend the wedding feast
because they are personally invested in Jesus. They know the bridegroom and want to
celebrate with Him. Paul in Galatians 3:27 tells us that “all who have been united with Christ in
baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.” I believe Jesus is the wedding clothes
God is looking for today in His Kingdom. Now consider the half of Christians who never attend
church except maybe once or twice a year. They may be baptized, but are they invested in
Jesus? Are they clothed in Him?
There is a scene that also speaks to this clothing issue in Revelation 7. Here, the writer
describes a vast crowd clothed in white robes. (vs 9) When he asks who these people are,
John is told they “have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.” (vs
14) Then we see in verses 15-17, this vast crowd from every “nation and tribe and people and
language” are the saved people of God serving in His Kingdom. While Revelation is an
apocryphal writing not to be taken literally (IMHO), it does tell us what we need to know about
God and His Kingdom. The saved of God have their wedding clothes spiritually purified by the
blood of Jesus. I think this is the way we are to put on the right clothes to enter God’s Kingdom.
So, how do we reach the secular world with this message of salvation? Could it be as simple as
a continuing invitation into God’s Kingdom? We as God’s servants are still inviting people in the
world to “Come to the banquet!’ (Matthew 22:4) We are not called to drag people who do not
want to come into His Kingdom. We invite all and pray they want to attend God’s wedding feast.
But what about those who come and are not dressed properly? We do have a responsibility to
tell everyone the importance of being baptized into Jesus. That is something we can and
should be doing as good servants of God. I am surprised in the Matthew 22 story, the king does
not chastise the servant who let the improperly dressed man in the door. What was he thinking?
Perhaps, the man was told to wear wedding clothes and just couldn’t be bothered to change.
Maybe, he thought he didn’t have to dress up to go to the king’s son's wedding. Do you think
there are people today who say they are Christians without ever coming to understand the need
for baptism into Jesus or attending a church with other servants of God? I believe that there
are, so perhaps we should focus on not only inviting people into God’s Kingdom, but also
ensuring they understand the need for Jesus in their lives today.
People in our world today are often distracted by the shiny things that take them away from
God. They think they can live without any spiritual component in their lives and continually
wander through life without God. We as God’s servants are called to invite them back. We are
like Paul who wrote about our call in 2 Corinthians 5:20, saying, “We speak for Christ when we
plead, “Come back to God!”