keep it secret, keep it safe

At Cornerstone we have been going through the Lord of the Rings. We watch a 30 minute segment and then teach a lesson using something from the 30 minutes as an object lesson. It has been a lot of fun and the youth have really enjoyed it. Well instead of watching the last movie like this we decided to have a movie day to wrap it up, so we are watching all three today.

"Keep it secret. Keep it safe" That is the line Gandalf says as he leaves the ring with Frodo. It is a great plan. Gandalf realizes they still have some time but does not want to take the chance of the ring falling into the wrong hands in the mean time. Even speaking of the ring can get Frodo into trouble. No words, actions, or even a lot of thought should be given to the ring once it has been put away. I think sometimes we Christians take Gandalf's words to heart, and while it was great advice for Frodo, it is terrible for us.

Jesus came into this world and showed us how to live. He taught and displayed the way God desires us to be. He spent his whole life making sure His ways were in tune to God and then spent 3 solid years teaching about it. But Jesus wasn't just some good prophet showing us the way back to God. He was and is God! He allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified because He knew He was doing good, He was doing the right thing. He was doing it for us, making the ultimate sacrifice so that our relationship with God could be repaired. God loved us so much!! Jesus loves us so much!! Then He raised from the dead. This isn't some sad story that just ended 2000 years ago with the death of Jesus, He is alive and things have never been the same.

But we are 2000 years removed from the hype that followed these wonderful events and I think it greatly affects the way we respond. Instead of going and telling our friends, neighbors, family members, and the world we spend our days making sure we are keeping the message secret and safe. We have been saved, and we want to make sure our "personal lives" are in tune with God, but outside of that, things get a bit scary. People may not like us if we mentioned what we think about certain topics. Others may laugh, scorn, or even persecute us for the very things we believe.

We cannot separate our "personal lives" from any other part of our lives. When Jesus saves us, when the Holy Spirit fills us, it is not just the part of us that sits in our Lazy Boy and reads the Bible. He saves all of us, the complete person. And it is that person that must then get out of the chair and do everything we can to not keep it secret. We must not allow ourselves to sit on the sidelines but we must actively search for ways to spread the GOOD NEWS! What would the world look like if instead of taking our cues from famous icons, tv shows or even the Lord of the Rings, we instead heard the words of God and then acted on them (James 1:22-25)?