Our pastors would never make such a statement. Our Bible Study leaders would never make such a statement. Most of us would never make such a statement. But do our actions and attitudes sometimes say something different?.
In Matthew 16:16 – 18 NLT. Simon Peter made his confession that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus went on to tell him that upon this confession, “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it”.
I would interpret that to say Jesus the Messiah can and will overcome anything that Satan can muster. Some translations say “the gates of hell will not overcome it”.
Jesus is telling us that the power of the Gospel is greater than the powers of evil. The Gospel can free anyone caught in the power of Satan. The early church believed it and acted accordingly. The church at Corinth was made up of people who had been pretty bad.
1 Corinthians 6:9 – 11 NLT Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Jesus said, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. Luke 4:18 NIV
Jesus said that His mission was to people that many of us would not feel comfortable with. Jesus went to people who were often Non-religious. Jesus felt the Gospel can free anyone. The question is, Do, we believe it? Do, we act accordingly? If we really believe something our actions will be congruent.
If we do we should be going to people who are prisoners? In our society, who are the oppressed? Who are the blind?
We have a huge prison population that very few people minister to and most prisoners have families. Those families are in ongoing crisis. Children are missing a parent. Most families do not have sufficient income. There is a certain stigma to having a prisoner in the family. Can you imagine an elementary school student saying they go to the prison every weekend to see a parent? The emotional trauma of a prison visit is high with the searches, metal detectors, razor wire and guards. Many families suffer exclusion and are looked down on by church folks even though the Bible in several places tells believers to “visit” those in Prison.
How about those who are prisoners of their addictions? Much of the time, as churches, we ignore this huge segment of our population. Do we see them as too lost to save? Or are we afraid they would not fit into our church culture? Are we afraid their addictions are stronger than the power of God? We leave them to die in their addictions more often than not with no relationship with Jesus.
What about the blind. We have an increasing number of people who are spiritually blind. They do not know nor understand who Jesus is. Often their only knowledge of Christianity is a poor caricature of what Jesus intended.
Some grew up in our churches and left. Some are from cultural subgroups that simply are not interested in Church. (I am afraid that in our presentations of the Gospel WE confuse coming to church and having a relationship with Jesus. They are two different things). There is an increasing population with different faith traditions such as Muslim, Hindu, Earth religions and Eastern religions. Sometimes we shy away from encounters with such people. Is it that we are like Jonah and don’t want them to have their eyes opened to the truth of the Gospel? Is it because they are different and we don’t want to get out of our comfort zone and learn how to relate to them? Or is it that we really don’t see the Gospel as having the power to save people like them?
Here is one possibility that I really hope is NOT true. It is that we think we deserve the Gospel more than they do. That would mean that Christ loves us more than he does them. We, in our Western culture, are more deserving than they are. I sense an undercurrent of that in some American Christianity. Sounds like an elitist Pharisees to me.
If faith in Jesus can’t transform a Muslim, Hindu, criminal or addict it has truly lost its power.
Very few would say that the Gospel doesn’t have the power to save. But what do our actions show?
Do we leave them in their oppression? Lost. If we do we are not following Jesus.