“How is it possible that I am 27-years-old and no one has ever told me that God loves me?”
This young man had just dropped a truth bomb on me, and it was ringing in my ears. Twenty-seven years old, living in “One Nation Under God” with a church on every corner and a Christian radio station on every dial, and no one had ever told him that God loved Him. He had no idea that God has a plan for his life and is the answer to every meaningful question he could ever ask.
He went on to tell me that he had grown up in church, and though he’d been told he was disappointing to God, no one had ever said God cared about him.
No one had ever shared that God loved him so much He made a way to spend eternity with him… so the very first time that he heard about God’s love and His plan of salvation, he jumped in with both feet.
That conversation was one of the most enjoyable and memorable I have had – on any subject, ever. I was quick to give God praise and quickly share this young man’s story with others. A couple of days later, though, I revisited that one line and my joy turned to sadness. I could not stop thinking about how many people just like him had never heard the affirming words that would bring them toward peace and one step closer to Jesus.
Us or them?
Jesus made a bold statement in Matthew 9:37, and He followed it up with a prayer request in the next verse. He said to His disciples: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
He said that the spiritual harvest is PLENTIFUL… people are willing to welcome God’s promises of salvation. There are people ready to embrace God’s rescue plan and to surrender to His grace.
But then He goes on to say that there aren’t enough laborers in the field. There aren’t enough people who are thinking about the harvest, not enough hands to gather the fullness of what God wants to bring in.
It got me thinking… actually, it led me to ask a very important question. “Is it possible that they (those who are lost and alone) are more willing to consider and respond to the message of Christ than we (Christ-followers) are willing and equipped to share Him?”
In our Christian bubble, we have convinced ourselves that they are not interested in what Jesus offers, but could it be that the problem is not with them but with us?
Are we waiting on them, or are they waiting on us?
That said, there are a couple of guarantees I can make to you today.
- The first is that God is looking for laborers. He wants us to pray that He would raise these workers up, but He is also inviting us to join the team. The question isn’t if God will use us, but will we follow Him into the fields?
- The second is that God will take an ordinary person and use them in extraordinary ways. You might say, “I don’t know what to say,” or perhaps, “I don’t have anything to offer.” That is OK. Your job is to be a willing vessel; His job is to breakthrough.
- Lastly, Jesus’ love is attractive. People are hungry for hope, purpose, peace, joy and everything He offers. Our job is to lift the name of Jesus, knowing that He meets the needs of everyone who looks to Him.
I never want to hear another young person say, “How is it possible that no one has ever told me God loves me?” It is time that we head into the fields and share this foundational truth with as many people as possible.
Remember, according to Jesus, we are not waiting on them. They are waiting on us.
Sean Dunn is the founder and president of Groundwire, a global ministry with the mission to lead every youth and young adult into a personal relationship with Jesus by leveraging current media channels to connect with them wherever they are. More than 116,000 made commitments to Christ through the organization’s efforts in 2020.